heir

Etymology

Definitions

1. 1

   Someone who inherits, or is designated to inherit, the property of another.

   • My brother is the heir to our childhood house and yet has no interest in it.
   • I am my father's heir and only son.
   • As to eleemoſynary corporations, by the dotation the founder and his heirs are of common right the legal viſitors, to ſee that that property is rightly employed, which would otherwiſe have deſcended to the viſitor himſelf: […]
2. 2

   One who inherits, or has been designated to inherit, a hereditary title or office.

   • As the heir to the British throne, the Prince of Wales is a very public figure.
   • Now, after the death of Queen Elizabeth II, William, 40, is the Prince of Wales and the heir to the British throne.
   • Vittorio Emanuele, the Italian throne's last heir, was apprehended in 1978 after a teen died from a gunshot on an exclusive island.
3. 3

   A successor in a role, representing continuity with the predecessor.

   • And I his heir in misery alone.
   • India is run by gerontocrats and epigones: grey hairs and groomed heirs.
4. ›+ 1 more definitionshow fewer

   1. 4

      To inherit.

      • […] Leonard Houtz & John Myer to be executors to this my last will & testament & lastly my children shall heir equally, one as much as the other.

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