| 释义 |
inheritance|ɪnˈhɛrɪtəns|
Forms: see inherit; 4–6 -aunce, 5– -ance.
[a. AF. enheritance a being admitted as heir, action or fact of inheriting, f. enheriter: see inherit v. and -ance.]
I. The action or fact of inheriting.
1. lit. Hereditary succession to property, a title, office, etc.; ‘a perpetual or continuing right to an estate, invested in a person and his heirs’ (Wharton Law Lex.).
[12..Britton Lois d'Angleterre lf. 1 a ap. Ste.-Pal. (Godef.), Ceux parolx (ses heires) font l'estate d'enheritance.] 1390Gower Conf. II. 313 Which of his propre enheritaunce Athenes had in governaunce. 1470–85Malory Arthur x. xxxiii, The same Castel was hers by ryght enherytaunce. 1548Hall Chron., Edw. IV 227 The realme of Fraunce to him of right, and by lyneall enheritaunce aperteyning. 1617Moryson Itin. iii. 153 Earle of Marre, who..is by inheritance Sheriffe of the County of Sterling. 1767Blackstone Comm. II. i. 12 Rights of inheritance and successions. 1864Boutell Her. Hist. & Pop. xiv. 140 This conjoint Inheritance Heraldry sets forth.
2. transf. and fig.
a. A coming into, or taking, possession of something, as one's birthright; possession, ownership; right of possession.
1535Coverdale Deut. iv. 20 But you hath the Lorde taken..that ye shulde be the people of his enheritaunce. 1590Spenser F.Q. i. iv. 48 To you th' inheritance belonges by right Of brothers prayse, to you eke longes his love. 1602Shakes. Ham. i. i. 92 A Moity competent..which had return'd To the Inheritance of Fortinbras, Had he bin Vanquisher. 1607― Cor. iii. ii. 68 You will rather shew our generall Lowts, How you can frowne, then spend a fawne vpon 'em, For the inheritance of their loues. 1680H. Care (title) English Liberties, or the free-born Subject's Inheritance.
b. Natural derivation of qualities or characters from parents or ancestry.
1859Darwin Orig. Spec. v. (1873) 123 These characters may be attributed to inheritance from a common progenitor. 1862Tennyson Idylls Ded. 31 How should England dreaming of his sons Hope more for these than some inheritance Of such a life, a heart, a mind as thine? 1885S. Cox Expos. Ser. i. iii. 30 Our goodness..whether it comes to us by nature, or by inheritance from our parents.
II. That which is inherited; a heritage.
3. a. lit. Property, or an estate, which passes by law to the heir on the decease of the possessor.
1473J. Warkworth Chron. (Camden) 13 Kynge Herry was amitted to his crowne and dignite ageyne, and alle his men to there enherytaunce. 1503–4Act 19 Hen. VII, c. 34 §8 Every suche Woman..[shall] frely enjoye have and possede..all hir owne inheretaunce. 1553T. Wilson Rhet. (1580) 209 Looke what enheritance came to him..by the death of his owne kinne, and his wifes kinsfolke. 1617Moryson Itin. iii. 248 The whole inheritance would after his death returne to the children of the elder brother. 1770Junius Lett. xxxviii. 191 He [the minister] is the tenant of the day, and has no interest in the inheritance. 1856Olmsted Slave States 95 Although..a chief part of his inheritance had been in slaves, he had liberated them all.
b. fig. Any property, quality, or immaterial possession inherited from ancestors or previous generations.
1611Beaum. & Fl. Knight Burn. Pestle ii. ii, My father's blessing, and this little coin Is my inheritance. 17..Smith (J.), Oh dear, unhappy babe! must I bequeath thee Only a sad inheritance of woe? 1804T. Chalmers Wks. (1849) VI. 25 A parent's reputation is a sacred inheritance. 1820Byron Mar. Fal. ii. i, His name, The sole inheritance he left. 1867Smiles Huguenots Eng. i. (1880) 11 Printed books were now part of the inheritance of the human race. 1873Hamerton Intell. Life i. vi. (1875) 33 Add something to the world's inheritance of knowledge.
4. transf. and fig. Something that one obtains or comes into possession of by right or divine grant; birthright. In biblical use applied to persons, etc., esp. God's chosen people, as His possession (κλῆρος), and to possessions or blessings, material or spiritual, as received or enjoyed by such persons. (Cf. heritage n. 1 c, 3.)
1535Coverdale Josh. xiii. 33 The Lorde God of Israel is their enheritaunce. ― Ps. ii. 8 Desyre off me, and I shall geue the the Heithen for thine enheritaunce. Ibid. xxvii[i]. 9 O helpe thy people, geue thy blessynge vnto thy enheritaunce. 1551T. Wilson Logike (1580) 16 Thereby synnes are forgiven, the inheritance of life everlastyng graunted. 1552Ld. Wharton in Bp. Nicolson Leges March. (1705) 342 The Land Layt called the Debateable Land; and now the King's Majesties Inheritance. 1611Bible Ps. lxxix. 1 O God, the heathen are come into thine inheritance, thy holy temple haue they defiled. 1871Freeman Norm. Conq. IV. xvii. 97 The zealous Primate was driven out of the church..crying aloud as he went that the heathen had come into God's inheritance. 1899Sayce Early Israel ii. 69 Canaan was the inheritance which the Israelites won for themselves by the sword.
III. 5. attrib. and Comb., as inheritance tax (or inheritance taxation), spec., orig. U.S., a tax on inherited property levied on individual beneficiaries, varying according to their degrees of relationship to the testator, rather than on the estate before its distribution.
1841W. Spalding Italy & It. Isl. I. 101 Caracalla conferred the nominal franchise of Rome on all the provincials, in order to make them liable to the inheritance-tax, and other burdens leviable only on citizens. 1895E. R. A. Seligman Ess. Taxation v. 133 The inheritance tax to-day scarcely needs defence. It is found in almost every country... In the United States..there is now a decided movement toward the progressive inheritance tax. 1903S. F. Weston Princ. Justice in Taxation viii. 289 We shall not attempt..to discuss the various theories of the inheritance tax. 1911Encycl. Brit. IX. 465/2 The really vital change was the extension in 1894 of the old Probate Duty into a comprehensive impost... This ‘Inheritance Tax’—to give it its scientific title—operates as a complementary property tax. 1929A. Comstock Taxation in Mod. State xi. 154 Examples of inheritance taxation may be found in antiquity and in the Middle ages... Since 1914 inheritance taxes have had a less spectacular rôle than income taxes and sales taxes. 1937M. Newcomer in C. Shoup Stud. Current Tax Probl. 16 The annual burden of the estate and inheritance taxes has been taken to be the amount of the premium for life insurance sufficient to cover these taxes at death. 1965Listener 2 Dec. 881/2 The positive case for inheritance taxation has become stronger. 1972Daily Tel. 22 Mar. 32/6 This looks a pretty good start towards the possible inheritance tax, in substitution for estate duty. |