Learn English – the difference between “legacy” and “inheritance”
differencesmeaning
Can someone explain the difference between legacy and inheritance?
Best Answer
In my mind, "inheritance" is almost exclusively used to deal with physical or monetary goods, features, or character traits; you can inherit your father's estate, you can inherit your mother's good looks, you can inherit your grandfather's business sense.
"Legacy" can be used in that same sense, but it can also have a much broader sense to refer to a situation that is set up for for the benefit of the descendents: "My father's legacy was the freewheeling, open, friendly town that bears his name: Fatherville." Or, "Our parents' legacy was not simply that they bequeathed us ten million dollars each, but that with that money in trust, we felt free to explore, experiment, and take risks that we would not have been able to, had we not had that safety net available."
(Also, as pointed out in some comments, "inheritance" is generally from the viewpoint of the receiver, while "legacy" is from the viewpoint of the giver: My inheritance was my father's legacy.)
I don't think there is a difference in meaning, only in usage.
This blog post details it:
“In contrast” and “by contrast” mean the same thing: the act of comparing in order to show differences.
The difference lies in the way the words are used.
“In contrast” is usually followed by “to” or “with” and requires a noun to follow it.
“By contrast” is usually followed or preceded by the subject of the sentence.
Examples:
In contrast to the diligent bee, the butterfly flies hither and yon with no apparent purpose.
In contrast with the chorus of birdsongs in my backyard, my front yard is serenaded by the sound of rumbling buses flying down the street.
By contrast, the Picasso is more vibrant and full of life.
The cats will often sleep the day away. The dogs, by contrast, never settle down.
Surely there should be more of a difference between the two words. If they mean the same thing surely there would be no need anymore for two words
There are a lot of near synonyms in English, so this does not follow at all. It's particularly so when you consider that act entered the English language in the late Middle English period, from French, while deed was in the language from the very beginnings of Old English. Many, but not all, seeming redundancies in English vocabulary have a similar origin story.
It is true that there are differences in nuances. The primary one would be that an act would generally be need to be relatively remarkable before we would use the term deed. One can do a particularly brave or noble or dastardly or evil deed, but one can't really do a lazy or everyday or common deed. There's nothing technically wrong with the latter, but it wouldn't be an idiomatic use.
There are similarly some differences in what verbs and prepositions are used with either. One doesn't do an act, one cannot be in the deed of anything.
Best Answer
In my mind, "inheritance" is almost exclusively used to deal with physical or monetary goods, features, or character traits; you can inherit your father's estate, you can inherit your mother's good looks, you can inherit your grandfather's business sense.
"Legacy" can be used in that same sense, but it can also have a much broader sense to refer to a situation that is set up for for the benefit of the descendents: "My father's legacy was the freewheeling, open, friendly town that bears his name: Fatherville." Or, "Our parents' legacy was not simply that they bequeathed us ten million dollars each, but that with that money in trust, we felt free to explore, experiment, and take risks that we would not have been able to, had we not had that safety net available."
(Also, as pointed out in some comments, "inheritance" is generally from the viewpoint of the receiver, while "legacy" is from the viewpoint of the giver: My inheritance was my father's legacy.)