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Adopt vs Inherit - What's the difference?

adopt | inherit |

In lang=en terms the difference between adopt and inherit

is that adopt is to select and take or approve while inherit is to come into an inheritance.

As verbs the difference between adopt and inherit

is that adopt is (with relationship specified) to take by choice into relationship, child, heir, friend, citizen, etc while inherit is to take possession of as a right (especially in biblical translations) .

adopt

English

Verb

(en verb)
  • (with relationship specified) To take by choice into relationship, child, heir, friend, citizen, etc.
  • (with relationship implied by context) To take voluntarily (a child of other parents) to be in the place of, or as, one's own child.
  • A friend of mine recently adopted a Chinese baby girl found on the streets of Beijing.
  • (with relationship implied by context) To obtain (a pet) from a shelter or the wild.
  • We're going to adopt a Dalmatian.
  • (with relationship implied by context) To take by choice into the scope of one's responsibility.
  • This supermarket chain adopts several families every Yuletide, providing them with money and groceries for the holidays.
  • To take or receive as one's own what is not so naturally.(rfex)
  • * '>citation
  • To select and take or approve.
  • to adopt the view or policy of another
    These resolutions were adopted .

    inherit

    English

    Verb

    (en verb)
  • To take possession of as a right (especially in Biblical translations) .
  • To receive (property or a title etc), by legal succession or bequest after the previous owner's death.
  • * {{quote-book, year=1963, author=(Margery Allingham), title=(The China Governess)
  • , chapter=5 citation , passage=‘It's rather like a beautiful Inverness cloak one has inherited . Much too good to hide away, so one wears it instead of an overcoat and pretends it's an amusing new fashion.’}}
  • (biology) To receive a characteristic from one's ancestors by genetic transmission.
  • To derive from people or conditions previously in force.
  • To come into an inheritance.
  • (computing, programming, transitive) To derive (existing functionality) from a superclass.
  • (computing, programming, transitive) To derive a new class from (a superclass).
  • * 2006 , Daniel Solis, Illustrated C# 2005
  • For example, the following two code segments, from different assemblies, show how easy it is to inherit a class from another assembly.
  • (obsolete) To put in possession of.
  • (Shakespeare)

    Usage notes

    * Do not confuse with inherent.

    Derived terms

    * inheritable * inheritance * inherited * inheritor