heir

[ air ]

noun

1. a person who inherits or has a right of inheritance in the property of another following the latter's death.
2. Law.
   1. (in common law) a person who inherits all the property of a deceased person, as by descent, relationship, will, or legal process.
   2. Civil Law. a person who legally succeeds to the place of a deceased person and assumes the rights and obligations of the deceased, as the liabilities for debts or the possessory rights to property.
3. a person who inherits or is entitled to inherit the rank, title, position, etc., of another.
4. a person or group considered as inheriting the tradition, talent, etc., of a predecessor.

verb (used with object)

1. Chiefly South Midland and Southern U.S. to inherit; succeed to.

heir

/ ɛə /

noun

1. civil law the person legally succeeding to all property of a deceased person, irrespective of whether such person died testate or intestate, and upon whom devolves as well as the rights the duties and liabilities attached to the estate
2. any person or thing that carries on some tradition, circumstance, etc, from a forerunner
3. an archaic word for offspring

Derived Forms

• ˈheirless, adjective

Other Words From

• heirless adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of heir¹

1225–75; Middle English eir, heir < Old French < Latin hērēd- (stem of hērēs ); akin to Greek chêros bereaved

Word History and Origins

Origin of heir¹

C13: from Old French, from Latin hērēs; related to Greek khēros bereaved

Example Sentences

Voters instead chose a political outsider, wealthy philanthropist and Levi’s heir Daniel Lurie, who promised to shut down open-air drug markets and make San Francisco less welcoming to street encampments.

From Los Angeles Times

Lurie and his mother are among the primary heirs of the Levi Strauss family fortune.

From Los Angeles Times

He’s previously criticized many of NATO’s European members for failing to commit more of heir GDP to their defense budgets.

From Salon

Harris is a child of and heir to the Black Freedom Struggle and the long civil rights movement.

From Salon

Roigard, in a rich vein of form for the Hurricanes and the heir apparent to the All Black nine jersey, had been tackled by Highlanders’ James Arscott.

From BBC

Related Words

• beneficiary
• inheritor
• scion
• successor