INHERITANCE

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does inheritance mean? 

• INHERITANCE (noun)
  The noun INHERITANCE has 4 senses:

1. hereditary succession to a title or an office or property

2. that which is inherited; a title or property or estate that passes by law to the heir on the death of the owner

3. (genetics) attributes acquired via biological heredity from the parents

4. any attribute or immaterial possession that is inherited from ancestors

  Familiarity information: INHERITANCE used as a noun is uncommon.

 Dictionary entry details 

• INHERITANCE (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

Hereditary succession to a title or an office or property

Classified under:

Nouns denoting acts or actions

Synonyms:

heritage; inheritance

Hypernyms ("inheritance" is a kind of...):

acquisition (the act of contracting or assuming or acquiring possession of something)

Derivation:

inherit (obtain from someone after their death)

Sense 2

Meaning:

That which is inherited; a title or property or estate that passes by law to the heir on the death of the owner

Classified under:

Nouns denoting possession and transfer of possession

Synonyms:

heritage; inheritance

Hypernyms ("inheritance" is a kind of...):

transferred possession; transferred property (a possession whose ownership changes or lapses)

Meronyms (parts of "inheritance"):

heirloom ((law) any property that is considered by law or custom as inseparable from an inheritance is inherited with that inheritance)

Domain category:

jurisprudence; law (the collection of rules imposed by authority)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "inheritance"):

primogeniture (right of inheritance belongs exclusively to the eldest son)

borough English (a former English custom by which the youngest son inherited land to the exclusion of his older brothers)

accretion ((law) an increase in a beneficiary's share in an estate (as when a co-beneficiary dies or fails to meet some condition or rejects the inheritance))

bequest; legacy ((law) a gift of personal property by will)

birthright; patrimony (an inheritance coming by right of birth (especially by primogeniture))

devise ((law) a gift of real property by will)

heirloom (something that has been in a family for generations)

Sense 3

Meaning:

(genetics) attributes acquired via biological heredity from the parents

Classified under:

Nouns denoting attributes of people and objects

Synonyms:

hereditary pattern; inheritance

Hypernyms ("inheritance" is a kind of...):

genetic endowment; heredity (the total of inherited attributes)

Domain category:

genetic science; genetics (the branch of biology that studies heredity and variation in organisms)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "inheritance"):

ancestry; derivation; filiation; lineage (inherited properties shared with others of your bloodline)

gene linkage; linkage ((genetics) traits that tend to be inherited together as a consequence of an association between their genes; all of the genes of a given chromosome are linked (where one goes they all go))

X-linked dominant inheritance (hereditary pattern in which a dominant gene on the X chromosome causes a characteristic to be manifested in the offspring)

X-linked recessive inheritance (hereditary pattern in which a recessive gene on the X chromosome results in the manifestation of characteristics in male offspring and a carrier state in female offspring)

Derivation:

inherit (receive by genetic transmission)

Sense 4

Meaning:

Any attribute or immaterial possession that is inherited from ancestors

Classified under:

Nouns denoting attributes of people and objects

Synonyms:

heritage; inheritance

Context example:

the world's heritage of knowledge

Hypernyms ("inheritance" is a kind of...):

attribute (an abstraction belonging to or characteristic of an entity)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "inheritance"):

birthright (personal characteristics that are inherited at birth)

background (a person's social heritage: previous experience or training)

birthright (a right or privilege that you are entitled to at birth)

upbringing (properties acquired during a person's formative years)

 Context examples 

A rare genetic neoplastic disorder with an autosomal dominant pattern of inheritance characterized by multiple, recurrent skin cancers that spontaneously resolve.

(Multiple Self Healing Epithelioma of Ferguson-Smith, NCI Thesaurus)

If you have questions about an inheritance you are about to receive or need to submit a claim for an insurance company, file by February 9.

(AstrologyZone.com, by Susan Miller)

A group of disorders characterized by an autosomal dominant pattern of inheritance with high rates of spontaneous mutation and multiple neurofibromas or neurilemmomas.

(Neurofibromatosis, NLM, Medical Subject Headings)

Most cases are sporadic, but familial patterns of inheritance have been observed.

(Epidermal Nevus, NCI Thesaurus)

A rare genetic disorder with an undetermined pattern of inheritance affecting mostly females.

(Coffin-Siris Syndrome, NCI Thesaurus)

A rare genetic disorder with an autosomal recessive pattern of inheritance.

(C3 Deficiency, NCI Thesaurus)

It is caused by the inheritance of only one complete X chromosome (45, X).

(Bonnevie-Ullrich Syndrome, NCI Thesaurus)

A rare genetic syndrome with an autosomal recessive pattern of inheritance.

(Allgrove Syndrome, NCI Thesaurus)

A rare genetic neoplastic syndrome with an autosomal dominant pattern of inheritance but incomplete penetrance.

(Lynch 1 Syndrome, NCI Thesaurus)

Type 1 neurofibromatosis has dominant inheritance, with a gene locus on the proximal long arm of chromosome 17.

(Neurofibromatosis type 1, NCI Thesaurus)