inheritance /inher′itəns/ [L, in, within, hereditare, to inherit] , 1. the acquisition or expression of traits or conditions by transmission of genetic material from parents to offspring. 2. the sum of the genetic qualities or traits transmitted from parents to offspring; the total genetic makeup of a fertilized ovum. Kinds include alternative inheritance, amphigenous inheritance, autosomal inheritance, blending inheritance, codominant inheritance, complemental inheritance, crisscross inheritance, cytoplasmic inheritance, holandric inheritance, hologynic inheritance, homochronous inheritance, maternal inheritance, monofactorial inheritance, multifactorial inheritance, supplemental inheritance, X-linked inheritance. −inherited, adj., −inherit, v.
