Emily Dickinson Lexicon

IN-HER'IT, v.t. [Sp. heredar; Port. herdar; It. eredare; F. heriter; from L. hæres, an heir. See Heir.]

1. To take by descent from an ancestor; to take by succession, as the representative of the former possessor; to receive, as a right or title descendible by law from an ancestor at his decease. The heir inherits the lands or real estate of his father; the eldest son of the nobleman inherits his father's title, and the eldest son of a king inherits the crown.
2. To receive by nature from a progenitor. The son inherits the virtues of his father; the daughter inherits the temper of her mother, and children often inherit the constitutional infirmities of their parents.
3. To possess; to enjoy; to take as a possession, by gift or divine appropriation; as, to inherit everlasting life; to inherit the promises. That thou mayest live, and inherit the land which Jehovah thy God giveth thee. Deut. xvi. The meek shall inherit the earth. Matth. v.