Heritage

Old French heritage — inheritance, legacy. From heriter — to inherit. From Latin heres — heir. Originally strictly legal — what you were entitled to inherit — before becoming cultural and emotional.

'Heritage' carries a soft glow that 'history' doesn't — it implies something worth preserving, something to be proud of. 'Heritage sites,' 'heritage language,' 'Southern heritage' — each use involves a claim about what deserves to be passed forward, and what does not.