Inherited
verbReceived money, property, or a title from someone after their death, or passed on by an earlier generation.
How to spell inherited
9 letters · 4 syllables
How to pronounce inherited
Say the part in capitals loudest.
What does inherited mean?
- verbReceived money, property, or a title from someone after their death, or passed on by an earlier generation.
- adjectivePassed down from parents or earlier generations rather than acquired.
Inherited in a sentence
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verb
She inherited the cottage from her grandmother last spring.
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adjective
His inherited wealth meant he never had to work for a salary.
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verb
He inherited a small fortune but spent it within a year.
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adjective
The doctor explained that the condition was inherited rather than caused by lifestyle.
Where does inherited come from?
Language of origin: Latin
The word descends from the Latin heres, heredis, meaning 'heir', the person who legally received property when someone died. From this came the Late Latin verb inhereditare, 'to make heir to' or 'to put in possession of', built from the prefix in- ('in, into') and the heir root. Old French reshaped this into enheriter, and English borrowed it in the 1300s as 'enherit', originally meaning 'to put into possession'. Over time the spelling settled to inherit and the meaning narrowed to the modern sense of receiving money, property, or characteristics passed down from a previous generation. The same heir root survives in 'heritage', 'hereditary', and 'heir' itself, which is a useful reminder that the word keeps a single r and a single t before the -ed ending.
How the word is built
- in- (in, into)
- herit (from Latin heres, heredis: heir)
- -ed (past tense / past participle)
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