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Inheritance   /ɪnhˈɛrətəns/   Listen
noun
Inheritance  n.  
1.
The act or state of inheriting; as, the inheritance of an estate; the inheritance of mental or physical qualities.
2.
That which is or may be inherited; that which is derived by an heir from an ancestor or other person; a heritage; a possession which passes by descent. "When the man dies, let the inheritance Descend unto the daughter."
3.
A permanent or valuable possession or blessing, esp. one received by gift or without purchase; a benefaction. "To an inheritance incorruptible, and undefiled, and that fadeth not away."
4.
Possession; ownership; acquisition. "The inheritance of their loves." "To you th' inheritance belongs by right Of brother's praise; to you eke 'longs his love."
5.
(Biol.) Transmission and reception by animal or plant generation.
6.
(Law) A perpetual or continuing right which a man and his heirs have to an estate; an estate which a man has by descent as heir to another, or which he may transmit to another as his heir; an estate derived from an ancestor to an heir in course of law. Note: The word inheritance (used simply) is mostly confined to the title to land and tenements by a descent. "Men are not proprietors of what they have, merely for themselves; their children have a title to part of it which comes to be wholly theirs when death has put an end to their parents' use of it; and this we call inheritance."






Collaborative International Dictionary of English 0.48








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"Inheritance" Quotes from Famous Books



... paramount ruler on the advice of the prime minister); Sharia Courts include Sharia Appeal Court, Sharia High Court, and Sharia Subordinate Courts at state-level and deal with religious and family matters such as custody, divorce, and inheritance, only for Muslims; decisions of Sharia courts cannot be ...
— The 2008 CIA World Factbook • United States. Central Intelligence Agency.

... he be so different from others? Listen. This very cousin whose offer I refused had a son,—wild, wayward, by all report the most degraded of men. It was part of my cousin's reformation to save this son, and, if it were possible, snatch him from that terrible fate which seemed to be his only inheritance. ...
— Two Men of Sandy Bar - A Drama • Bret Harte

... powerlessness, disarmed, like a Christian of the Primitive Church overcome by original sin, as soon as the aid of the supernatural had departed. In the dull silence of this protected corner she heard this evil inheritance come back, howling triumphant over everything. If in ten minutes more no help came to her from figurative forces, if things around her did not rouse up and sustain her, she would certainly succumb and go to her ruin. "My God! My God! Why have You abandoned me?" Still kneeling on ...
— The Dream • Emile Zola

... Lord Hervey's description of Chesterfield be accepted, for instead of broad, rough features, and an ugly face, Burr's personal appearance, suggested by the delicately chiselled features in the marble, was the gift of a mother noted for beauty as well as for the inheritance of her father's great intellectuality. Writers never forget the large black eyes, keen and penetrating, so irresistible to gifted and beautiful women. They came from the Edwards side; but from ...
— A Political History of the State of New York, Volumes 1-3 • DeAlva Stanwood Alexander

... been expected, that clause of his will was successfully contested, on account of its vagueness, by his brother and sister, who morally, if not legally, cheated the "Bashful Young Men of Boston" out of a unique and much deserved, much needed inheritance. This cure for heart-break must be a severe but effectual one. When I met George Addison in Paris, then an old man, he was as rosy as a ripe apple, and just as mellow. He was gracious, kindly, and ...
— A Few Short Sketches • Douglass Sherley


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