heritage

noun

her·​i·​tage ˈher-ə-tij 

ˈhe-rə-

1

: property that descends to an heir

2

a

: something transmitted by or acquired from a predecessor : legacy, inheritance

proud of her Chinese heritage

a rich heritage of folklore

The battlefields are part of our heritage and should be preserved.

b

: tradition

the party's heritage of secularism

3

: something possessed as a result of one's natural situation or birth : birthright

the heritage of natural freedom was long since cast away

—V. L. Parrington

Synonyms

• convention
• custom
• prescription
• rubric
• rule
• tradition

Examples of heritage in a Sentence

hospitality is a cherished Southern heritage

this farm is my heritage from my father, as it was for him from his father

Recent Examples on the Web

Struggling to find uniforms from the War of 1812 The parade will salute the Army's heritage from the Revolutionary War to the present, with soldiers in period uniforms. —Cybele Mayes-Osterman, USA Today, 16 May 2025

Wilson pottery now resides in museums across the United States, from the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History to the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston—an indelible part of the country’s entrepreneurial and creative heritage. —Jacoba Urist, Smithsonian Magazine, 15 May 2025

Adam Pasi Based in Portland, Samoan American comedian Adam Pasi has been vocal about his Samoan heritage on stage. —Laura Sirikul, Forbes.com, 15 May 2025

Genealogists would later unearth that his maternal grandparents were Creole people from Louisiana — an often mixed-race cultural identity linked to French, Spanish, African and Indigenous heritages. —Nell Salzman, Chicago Tribune, 15 May 2025

Word History

Etymology

Middle English heritage, eritage, borrowed from Anglo-French, from heriter "to inherit, make an heir" (going back to Late Latin hērēditāre "to leave as an inheritance, inherit, make an heir," from Latin hērēd-, hērēs heir entry 1 + -itāre, verb suffix) + -age -age

Note: The Latin verb suffix -itāre normally has repetitive or frequentative value (cf. hesitate, meditate, palpitate), not factitive or causative value, so in this instance it may be of distinct origin. A possible model is the adjective hērēditārius (see hereditary), in the formation of which a stem hērēdit- appears to have been extracted from the noun hērēditāt-, hērēditās "succession to an heir, inheritance," by construing the suffix as -āt-, -ās (or, alternatively, *hērēditātārius was shortened by haplology to hērēditārius).

First Known Use

13th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Kids Definition

heritage

noun

her·​i·​tage ˈher-ət-ij 

1

: property that is handed down to an heir

2

: something acquired from the past

a rich heritage of folklore