1
: to come into possession of or receive especially as a right or divine portion - and every one who has left houses or brothers or sisters … for my name's sake, will receive a hundredfold, and inherit eternal life
- —Matthew 19:29 (Revised Standard Version)
2 a
: to receive from an ancestor as a right or title descendible by law at the ancestor's death
b
: to receive as a devise or legacy
3
: to receive from a parent or ancestor by genetic transmission - inherit a defective enzyme
4
: to have in turn or receive as if from an ancestor - inherited the problem from his predecessor
: to take or hold a possession or rights by inheritance
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inheritor
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\in-ˈher-ə-tər, -ˈhe-rə-\
noun
—
inheritress
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\in-ˈher-ə-trəs, -ˈhe-rə-\
or
inheritrix
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\in-ˈher-ə-(ˌ)triks, -ˈhe-rə-\ noun