See jsfiddle http://jsfiddle.net/bt5nj/2/ and http://jsfiddle.net/bt5nj/3/
width:inherit inherits width that defined by parent.
HTML:
<div id="parent">
<div id="child"></div>
</div>
CSS:
#parent {
width:50%;
height:30px;
}
#child {
width:inherit;
height:100%;
background-color:red;
}
This makes child width 25%, but if I redefine it with width:100% it will define width of child 50%.