inherited

/ɪnˈhɛrətɪd/

Inherited means "handed down to you by your family." If your inherited traits include your red hair, freckles, and stubbornness, it means older people in your family also have them.

Something you receive from your parents, grandparents, or other family members is inherited, whether it's a personality trait or a house in the Catskills. Some things are inherited genetically, like blue eyes, and others are inherited legally, like money or property you receive as an heir when someone dies. The Latin root is inhereditare, "to appoint as heir." The meaning changed in the 14th century to "receive, to be the heir."

Definitions of inherited

1. adjective

   occurring among members of a family usually by heredity
   “an inherited disease”

   synonyms: familial, genetic, hereditary, transmissible, transmitted

   heritable, inheritable

   capable of being inherited