ENGLISH
REFERENCE

inheritance

n.
US //ˌɪnˈhɛɹətəns// UK //ɪnhˈɛɹɪtəns// in·her·i·tance
  1. 1 money or property received (n.)
    B2 Upper Intermediate Law

    the money, property, or things you receive from someone when they die.

    the assets, including money and property, that an individual is entitled to receive from an estate by law or through a will.

    Example

    She used her inheritance from her grandfather to pay for her university tuition.

    Example

    The siblings spent months in legal mediation over the distribution of their father's inheritance, specifically regarding the family estate in the countryside.
  2. 2 the process of receiving (n.)
    B2 Upper Intermediate Law

    the act of receiving money or property from someone who has died.

    the legal or social mechanism of passing titles, debts, rights, and obligations to a legal heir.

    Example

    The laws of inheritance vary significantly from one country to another.

    Example

    The historian argued that the strict rules of inheritance in the eighteenth century prevented the fragmentation of large agricultural estates.
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  1. 3 biological traits (n.)
    B2 Upper Intermediate Science

    the physical qualities or health conditions you get from your parents through your genes.

    the biological process or result of transmitting genetic characteristics from parents to offspring.

    Example

    Eye colour is a matter of biological inheritance from your mother and father.

    Example

    Researchers are studying the complex patterns of genetic inheritance that contribute to certain autoimmune disorders in the population.
  2. 4 programming structure (n.)
    C1 Advanced Technical Computing

    a way in computer coding where one part of a program gets its features from another part.

    the mechanism in object-oriented programming where a subclass acquires the properties and behaviours of a superclass.

    Example

    The programmer used inheritance to create a new type of button that kept the same style as the old one.

    Example

    By leveraging class inheritance, the developers were able to reduce code redundancy and ensure a consistent interface across the entire software suite.

Origin

Inherited from Middle English enheritaunce, inheritaunce, borrowed from Anglo-Norman, Old French enheritaunce, from enheriter. By surface analysis, inherit + -ance.

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