heritage

• hæritage (archaic)

From Old French eritage, heritage, (French héritage), ultimately derived (through suffixation) from Latin hērēs.

• IPA^(key): /ˈhɛɹ.ɪ.tɪd͡ʒ/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

• Hyphenation: her‧i‧tage

heritage (countable and uncountable, plural heritages)

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

   a heritage speaker; a heritage language

   The university requires heritage Spanish students to enroll in a specially designed Spanish program not available to non-heritage students.

• See heir

• (agriculture): heirloom, landrace