heritage

Meaning

1. (countable, uncountable) An inheritance; property that may be inherited.
2. (countable, uncountable) A tradition; a practice or set of values that is passed down from preceding generations through families or through institutional memory.
3. (countable, uncountable) A birthright; the status acquired by birth, especially of but not exclusive to the firstborn.
4. (attributive, countable, uncountable) Having a certain background, such as growing up with a second language.

Synonyms

inheritance

legacy

patrimony

bequest

heirloom

heredity

beliefs

tradition

birthright

estate

heir

heirship

hereditament

legacies

origin

philosophy

residue

source

testament

inherited property

post-obit

personality

estate of inheritance

hereditary property

hereditary estate

ancestry

decedents’estates

camp

character

country

descent

dower

emanation

genealogy

genesis

hangover

Translations

héritage

herencia

patrimoine

Erbe

erfenis

Erbschaft

patrimonio

miras

hérédité

Vererbung

Pronounced as (IPA)

/ˈhɛɹ.ɪ.tɪd͡ʒ/

Etymology

Cognate with French: héritage

In summary

From Middle English heritage, from Old French eritage, heritage (modern French héritage), ultimately derived (through suffixation) from Latin hērēs. By surface analysis, herit + -age.