heir

1 of 2

noun

1
: one who receives property from an ancestor : one who is entitled to inherit property
was her father's sole heir
2
: one who inherits or is entitled to succeed to a hereditary rank, title, or office
heir to the throne
3
: one who receives or is entitled to receive something other than property from a parent or predecessor
saw himself as the logical heir to the slain dictator
heirless adjective
heirship noun

heir

2 of 2

verb

heired; heiring; heirs

transitive verb

chiefly dialectal

Examples of heir in a Sentence

Noun His heirs could inherit millions of dollars. The king left no heirs when he died.
Recent Examples on the Web
Noun
It was credited to her husband, Prince William, heir to the throne, and was said to have been taken earlier in the week in Windsor. Brian Melley, Twin Cities, 10 Mar. 2024 The princess was photographed alongside her three children and husband, Prince William, the heir to the British crown. Jennifer Hassan, Washington Post, 6 Mar. 2024 The Disney proxy battle is heating up as the heirs of Walt and Roy Disney, the company’s founders, throw their support behind the current regime, not Nelson Peltz or Blackwells. ‘Road House’ brawl: Amazon used AI to replicate actors’ voices during strike, lawsuit alleges. Ryan Faughnder, Los Angeles Times, 5 Mar. 2024 Last week, the heir to the throne visited the Western Marble Arch Synagogue in London, the second of two recent outings to recognize both the rise in antisemitism and the human suffering in the Middle East, and spent St. David's Day with a series of engagements in Wales. Stephanie Petit, Peoplemag, 4 Mar. 2024 In 2022, Paramount was hit with a lawsuit over the rights to Top Gun by the heirs of author of the 1983 California magazine story on which the original movie is based. Winston Cho, The Hollywood Reporter, 27 Feb. 2024 As the only child of the pair, Paul is the hesitant heir to the ruling household. Stephanie Kaloi, Peoplemag, 28 Feb. 2024 The daimyo likely confiscated the vessel’s munitions for use in his ongoing quest to gain control of Japan, which culminated in a clash with Mitsunari and other feudal lords allied with the heir at the October 1600 Battle of Sekigahara. Meilan Solly, Smithsonian Magazine, 27 Feb. 2024 Five regents, including Toranaga, have been entrusted to maintain peace while keeping the royal seat warm for their deceased sovereign’s sole heir, who has yet to come of age. Inkoo Kang, The New Yorker, 26 Feb. 2024
Verb
After watching the 1993 Tom Cruise thriller The Firm, which features the Cayman Islands, Hammer’s father, Michael, heir to a multimillion-dollar oil fortune, relocated his family to the tax haven. ELLE, 8 Feb. 2023 Who: Daughter of legendary rock singer Elvis Presley and Priscilla Presley, heir to Graceland and her father’s estate. Mary Colurso | McOlurso@al.com, al, 2 Feb. 2023 The final three episodes see Harry, 38, directing more of his ire at Prince William, now heir to the throne, and speaking in more detail about how his relationship with the royal household broke down. Sylvia Hui and Danica Kirka, BostonGlobe.com, 15 Dec. 2022 Her great-grandson, Alexei Nikolaevich, the only son of the last czar of Russia and heir to the throne, was afflicted with hemophilia B. Jonathan Saltzman, BostonGlobe.com, 29 Jan. 2023 Their only son and heir to the throne had hemophilia, and Rasputin seemingly had healing powers that kept him alive. Emilie Le Beau Lucchesi, Discover Magazine, 27 Oct. 2022 The Queen’s eldest son, Charles, who has been heir to the British throne for 70 years, is now officially the king. Cassie Werber, Quartz, 8 Sep. 2022 Suddenly in financial straits, Fisher, heir to the Gap fortune, is forced to sell the A’s. Scott Ostler, San Francisco Chronicle, 8 Jan. 2023 Abigail Kinoiki Kekaulike Kawananakoa, heir to a considerable sugar fortune and a surviving descendant of the royal family that once ruled over the Hawaiian Kingdom, died Sunday age 96. Leo Sands, Washington Post, 13 Dec. 2022

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'heir.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

Etymology

Noun

Middle English eir, eyre, heir, borrowed from Anglo-French heir, going back to Vulgar Latin *hērem, *hēre, taken as oblique forms (by declension reassignment) of Latin hērēd-, hērēs, from hēr- (probably going back to Indo-European heh1ro- "abandoned, derelict," whence also Greek chêros "widowed, orphaned, bereaved," chérā "widow") + -ēd-, perhaps a suffixal element

Note: Latin hērēd- has been directly compared with the base of Greek chērōstaí "kinsmen inheriting the property of a person lacking closer relatives" (with the agent suffix -tēs). Opposing the interpretation of *-ēd-/*-ōd- as a suffixal element is an older explanation that sees the etymon as a compound of heh1ro- and the verbal base *h1ed- "eat"—the whole hence meaning approximately "that which devours what is left behind." (The Greek outcome would then be from heh1ro-h1d-, with zero grade of the verb.) The adjective heh1ro- has been taken as a derivative of the verbal base heh1- "let go, leave behind" (see go entry 1).

Verb

Middle English erren, heyren, derivative of eir, eyre heir entry 1

First Known Use

Noun

13th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Verb

14th century, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of heir was in the 13th century

Dictionary Entries Near heir

Cite this Entry

“Heir.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/heir. Accessed 19 Mar. 2024.

Kids Definition

heir

noun
ˈa(ə)r,
ˈe(ə)r
1
: a person who inherits or has the right to inherit property
2
: a person who has legal claim to a title or a throne when the person holding it dies
heirship
-ˌship
noun

Legal Definition

heir

noun
: one who inherits or is entitled to succeed to the possession of property after the death of its owner: as
a
: one who by operation of law inherits the property and especially the real property of a person who dies without leaving a valid will
used in jurisdictions whose law is based on English common law

called also heir at law, heir general, legal heir

compare issue
b
in the civil law of Louisiana : one who succeeds to the estate of a person by will or especially by operation of law see also intestacy, unworthy compare ancestor, devisee, legatee, next of kin, successor
apparent heir
: heir apparent in this entry
beneficiary heir
in the civil law of Louisiana : an heir who exercises the benefit of inventory which limits the amount of his or her liability for the decedent's debts
bodily heir
: heir of the body in this entry
forced heir
: an heir who cannot be disinherited except for causes recognized by law
especially, in the civil law of Louisiana : an heir who because of youth or mental or physical infirmity cannot care for himself or herself and who cannot be deprived of his or her lawful portion of the decedent's estate by disinherison without just cause see also legitime
heir ab intestato \ -​ˌab-​ˌin-​tes-​ˈtā-​tō, -​ˌäb-​ˌin-​tes-​ˈtä-​tō \ plural heirs ab intestato
in the civil law of Louisiana : an heir that takes only by operation of the laws governing intestate succession
heir apparent plural heirs apparent
: an heir whose right to an inheritance cannot be voided or undone except by exclusion under a valid will if he or she survives the ancestor

called also apparent heir

compare heir presumptive in this entry
heir at law
heir general plural heirs general
heir in tail
: an heir to a fee-tail estate

called also heir of entail

heir of the body
: an heir who is a lineal descendant especially as contrasted with a collateral descendant

called also bodily heir

heir presumptive plural heirs presumptive
: an heir whose right to inherit may be defeated by the birth of a nearer relative or by exclusion under a valid will

called also presumptive heir

compare heir apparent in this entry
instituted heir
in the civil law of Louisiana : an heir who is named in the will but whose legacy will fall to a substitute legatee under a vulgar substitution in the event that he or she refuses the legacy or dies before the testator

called also instituted legatee

irregular heir
in the civil law of Louisiana : an heir who inherits a right of action to the estate as distinguished from seisin

Note: This class of heirs was eliminated as of January 1, 1982. Formerly, a decedent's illegitimate children and spouse were considered irregular heirs.

legal heir
: heir sense a
specifically, in the civil law of Louisiana : an heir who receives seisin immediately after the death of the intestate by operation of law compare irregular heir in this entry

Note: Prior to 1982 the Louisiana Civil Code distinguished between legal and irregular heirs who were required to go through an additional procedure in order to receive possession of the property. This division of heirs was eliminated in the 1981 revision of the Civil Code.

natural heir
: an heir (as a child) whose status as an heir arises from especially close blood relationship as distinguished from one (as the state) whose status arises by operation of statute
presumptive heir
: heir presumptive in this entry
pretermitted heir
: a descendant of a testator who would be an heir under the laws of intestacy but who is not named to take under the will

Note: Most states have statutes requiring a share of the estate to go to a pretermitted heir, especially one born after the execution of the will, on the assumption that the omission was unintentional.

right heir
: an heir by blood
: the particular heir granted or devised an estate tail as distinguished from the heirs in general
testamentary heir
in the civil law of Louisiana : an heir who inherits under a will
heirless adjective
heirship noun

More from Merriam-Webster on heir

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