Inheritaunce

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. Money, property, or a title that a person receives from a relative or ancestor after their death ; the characteristics a living thing gets from its parents through genes
2. Assets or rights that pass to someone on the death of an older family member ; physical or mental qualities transmitted biologically from one generation to the next
3. The estate or title handed down through a family when its owner dies ; the hereditary features that offspring acquire from their mother and father through genetic transmission

Etymology: Its deepest root is "heres," the Latin word for heir, which also gave English "heir" through Old French. Latin built "inhereditare," meaning to make someone an heir, from "in" and "heres." Old French turned that into "enheriter," and a noun "enheritance" followed. This spelling is a Middle English form, one of many variants English writers used before spelling settled. The "-aunce" ending reflects the French spelling of the suffix, and the "in-" prefix shows the Latin ancestry of the word. Its core meaning has stayed close to its origins: property or rights passed down from someone who has died.