inheritor

[ in-her-i-ter ]

noun

1. a person who inherits; heir.

Word History and Origins

Origin of inheritor¹

First recorded in 1400–50, inheritor is from the late Middle English word enheritour, enheriter. See inherit, -or ²

Example Sentences

Shanghai's residents who have long seen themselves as the inheritors of an outward-looking, cosmopolitan attitude which permeated Shanghai in the early decades of the 20th century, are also proud of their café culture.

From BBC

Many argue she should also be seen and recognised as the descendant of another kind of family and that is the inheritor of generations of black female activists.

From BBC

And number two: This is just one more entry in the Republican mythology that they are the inheritors of the American revolutionary tradition.

From Salon

The task of interpreting what it all means, and how it fits into the grand sweep of history, might fall to the future inheritors of our world.

From Seattle Times

Thornton Wilder, whose “Our Town” is the most famous dramatic inheritor of Winesburg’s legacy, cautioned in his stage directions that the play “should be performed without sentimentality or ponderousness — simply, dryly and sincerely.”

From Los Angeles Times

Related Words

• beneficiary
• scion
• successor