Word.ws English Dictionary

inherited

Syllables: in·her·it·ed/ɪnˈhɛɹɪtɪd/

inherited is the simple past and past participle of inherit.

Adjective

inherited (not comparable)

  1. Obtained via an inheritance
    • inherited money
  2. hereditary.
    • an inherited disease

Meaning of inherit

Verb

inherit (third-person singular simple present inherits, present participle inheriting, simple past and past participle inherited)

  1. (transitive) To receive (property, a title, etc.), by legal succession or bequest, usually after the previous owner's death.
    • After Grandad died, I inherited the house.
    Antonyms:
    bequeath, leave
    1. (intransitive, transitive) To come into an inheritance.
      • Lucky old Daniel – his grandfather died rich, and he's inherited.
  2. (transitive) To take possession of as a right (especially in Biblical translations).
    • Your descendants will inherit the earth.
  3. (transitive) To receive a characteristic from one's ancestors by genetic transmission.
    • Let's hope the baby inherits his mother's looks and his father's intelligence.
  4. (transitive) To derive from people or conditions previously in force.
    • This country has inherited an invidious class culture.
  5. (transitive) To derive (existing functionality) from a superclass.
    • ModalWindow inherits all the properties and methods of Window.

See all 8 meanings of inherit

Words formed from inherited

Phrases with inherited

Questions about inherited

What does inherited mean?
Inherited means obtained via an inheritance.
What is inherited the simple past and past participle of?
Inherited is the simple past and past participle of inherit.
What part of speech is inherited?
Inherited is an adjective.
How do you pronounce inherited?
Inherited is pronounced /ɪnˈhɛɹɪtɪd/.

Words near inherited in the dictionary

  1. inheritance powder
  2. inheritance powders
  3. inheritance tax
  4. inheritance taxes
  5. inheritances
  6. inherited
  7. inherited audience
  8. inherited audiences
  9. inheritedness
  10. inheritee
  11. inheritees

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: inherited (page history and authors); inherit (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

Last updated:

Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Persent101-inherited.wav.

Cite this entry: “inherited.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/inherited. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.