Word
inheritance
Phoneticsin·her·i·tance, stress on the second syllable
US/ˌɪnˈhɛɹətəns/
UK/ɪnhˈɛɹɪtəns/
Definitions
01money or property received
B2 · Upper Intermediate Countable noun Law
n. the money, property, or things you receive from someone when they die.
n. the assets, including money and property, that an individual is entitled to receive from an estate by law or through a will.
“She used her inheritance from her grandfather to pay for her university tuition.”
“The siblings spent months in legal mediation over the distribution of their father's inheritance, specifically regarding the family estate in the countryside.”
02the process of receiving
B2 · Upper Intermediate Uncountable noun Law
n. the act of receiving money or property from someone who has died.
n. the legal or social mechanism of passing titles, debts, rights, and obligations to a legal heir.
“The laws of inheritance vary significantly from one country to another.”
“The historian argued that the strict rules of inheritance in the eighteenth century prevented the fragmentation of large agricultural estates.”
Synonyms
03biological traits
B2 · Upper Intermediate Uncountable noun Science
n. the physical qualities or health conditions you get from your parents through your genes.
n. the biological process or result of transmitting genetic characteristics from parents to offspring.
“Eye colour is a matter of biological inheritance from your mother and father.”
“Researchers are studying the complex patterns of genetic inheritance that contribute to certain autoimmune disorders in the population.”
Synonyms
04programming structure
C1 · Advanced Uncountable noun Computing Technical
n. a way in computer coding where one part of a program gets its features from another part.
n. the mechanism in object-oriented programming where a subclass acquires the properties and behaviours of a superclass.
“The programmer used inheritance to create a new type of button that kept the same style as the old one.”
“By leveraging class inheritance, the developers were able to reduce code redundancy and ensure a consistent interface across the entire software suite.”
Collocations
Common phrases and expressions where native English speakers use the word “inheritance” in context.
Real-World Examples
“I learned to value my cultural inheritance and bring Jamaica’s landscapes on to the page.” “Seen through this lens, sleep, exercise and diet stop looking like three separate pieces of lifestyle advice and become different ways of caring for the same biological inheritance.” Etymology
Inherited from Middle English enheritaunce, inheritaunce, borrowed from Anglo-Norman, Old French enheritaunce, from enheriter. By surface analysis, inherit + -ance.
Etymology adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Word family
VERB
NOUN
Related words
Domains
- Exam level
- CambridgeCambridgeCambridge English QualificationsThe exam suite from Cambridge University Press & Assessment, from A1 Movers up to C2 Proficiency. The benchmark names double as CEFR labels.B2 FirstIELTSIELTSInternational English Language Testing SystemThe 0–9 band test co-owned by the British Council, IDP, and Cambridge. Used for university entry, work, and migration.5.5–6.5TOEFL iBTTOEFL iBTTest of English as a Foreign Language, Internet-Based TestETS's academic English test, the standard route for US university admissions. Scored 0–120, with a 1–6 scale since 2026.1–6 scale: 4.0–4.572–94TOEICTOEICTest of English for International CommunicationETS's workplace English test, big in Japan and Korea. Listening & Reading scores 10–990 and tops out at C1.785–944
- Frequency
- Frequent
- Level
- B2 · Upper Intermediate
- Updated
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