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Inherit vs Successor - What's the difference?

inherit | successor |

As a verb inherit

is to take possession of as a right (especially in Biblical translations).

As a noun successor is

a person or thing that immediately follows another in holding an office or title.

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

    successor

    English

    (wikipedia successor)

    Alternative forms

    * successour (obsolete)

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • A person or thing that immediately follows another in holding an office or title.
    • George W. Bush was successor to Bill Clinton as President of the US.
  • * {{quote-news
    • , year=2012 , date=May 5 , author=Phil McNulty , title=Chelsea 2-1 Liverpool , work=BBC Sport citation , page= , passage=As Di Matteo celebrated and captain John Terry raised the trophy for the fourth time, the Italian increased his claims to become the permanent successor to Andre Villas-Boas by landing a trophy.}}
  • The next heir in order or succession.
  • A person who inherits a title or office.
  • (arithmetic, set theory) The integer, ordinal number or cardinal number immediately following another.

    • Synonyms

    * (l) (uncommon)

    Antonyms

    * predecessor