# inheritance

> English word · Noun · IPA /ɪnˈhɛɹɪtəns/ · frequency rank #9,619

## Definitions
1. The passing of title to an estate upon death.
2. That which a person is entitled to inherit, by law or testament, such as the part of an estate (i.e., a portion).
3. The act or mechanism of inheriting; the state of having inherited.
4. The biological attributes passed hereditarily from ancestors to their offspring.
5. The mechanism whereby parts of a superclass are available to instances of its subclass.

## Etymology
Inherited from Middle English enheritaunce, inheritaunce, borrowed from Anglo-Norman, Old French enheritaunce, from enheriter. By surface analysis, inherit + -ance.

## Common misspellings (17)
`ihneritance`, `inehritance`, `inheirtance`, `inheriatnce`, `inheritacne`, `inheritancce`, `inheritanec`, `inheritannce`, `inheritence`, `inheritnace`, `inherittance`, `inherritance`, `inhertiance`, `inhheritance`, `inhreitance`, `innheritance`, `niheritance`

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/word/inheritance