HEIR

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does heir mean? 

• HEIR (noun)
  The noun HEIR has 2 senses:

1. a person who is entitled by law or by the terms of a will to inherit the estate of another

2. a person who inherits some title or office

  Familiarity information: HEIR used as a noun is rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• HEIR (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

A person who is entitled by law or by the terms of a will to inherit the estate of another

Classified under:

Nouns denoting people

Synonyms:

heir; heritor; inheritor

Hypernyms ("heir" is a kind of...):

receiver; recipient (a person who receives something)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "heir"):

heir apparent (an heir whose right to an inheritance cannot be defeated if that person outlives the ancestor)

heir-at-law (the person legally entitled to inherit the property of someone who dies intestate)

heiress; inheritress; inheritrix (a female heir)

heir presumptive (a person who expects to inherit but whose right can be defeated by the birth of a nearer relative)

Sense 2

Meaning:

A person who inherits some title or office

Classified under:

Nouns denoting people

Synonyms:

heir; successor

Hypernyms ("heir" is a kind of...):

issue; offspring; progeny (the immediate descendants of a person)

 Context examples 

If I would not go for the sake of your father, I should think it scandalous to go for the sake of his heir.

(Persuasion, by Jane Austen)

Above all, an heir to the throne had been born in Bordeaux, and the prince might leave his spouse with an easy mind, for all was well with mother and with child.

(The White Company, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

Lord Avon had no children, and Sir Lothian Hume—the same who was at the card-party—is his nephew and heir.

(Rodney Stone, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

This was the home of Henry Jekyll’s favourite; of a man who was heir to a quarter of a million sterling.

(The Strange Case Of Dr. Jekyll And Mr. Hyde, by Robert Louis Stevenson)

Mina if she survive is my sole heir.

(Dracula, by Bram Stoker)

In his view he should himself have been heir of all my estates, and he deeply resented those social laws which made it impossible.

(The Return of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

And they were married that very day, and the soldier was chosen to be the king’s heir.

(Fairy Tales, by The Brothers Grimm)

Little Henry must remain the heir of Donwell.

(Emma, by Jane Austen)

A famous thing for his next heirs.

(Northanger Abbey, by Jane Austen)

The flesh and the qualms of the flesh she was heir to, but the flesh bore heavily only on the flesh.

(The Sea-Wolf, by Jack London)