inheritance
n. C / Un. money, property, or qualities that you receive from your parents or ancestors when they die. It can also mean the physical traits, like eye color, that you get through your genes.
n. the acquisition of property, debt, or titles from a predecessor upon their death; also refers to the genetic transmission of characteristics from parents to offspring.
She used her inheritance to buy a small house in the country.
The lawyer explained that the inheritance would be divided equally among the three surviving children.
While the legal inheritance provided financial security, the family's cultural inheritance proved far more influential in shaping his artistic development and social values.
Inherited from Middle English enheritaunce, inheritaunce, borrowed from Anglo-Norman, Old French enheritaunce, from enheriter. By surface analysis, inherit + -ance.
Uncountable when referring to the general process of receiving traits or assets; countable when referring to a specific sum of money or a particular legacy.