scion

noun sci·on \ ˈsī-ən \

|Updated on: 16 Jul 2018

Editor's Note: Get Familial With scion

1 : a detached living portion of a plant (such as a bud or shoot) joined to a stock in grafting and usually supplying solely aerial parts to a graft

2 a : descendant, child; especially : a descendant of a wealthy, aristocratic, or influential family

b : heir 1

scion of a railroad empire

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Examples of scion in a Sentence

He's a scion of a powerful family.

Recent Examples of scion from the Web

CBS Photo Archive—Getty Images Harlan Ellison, a scion of the Golden Age of science fiction, has died at age 84.

— glenn fleishman, Fortune, "5 Great Works From Acclaimed Sci-Fi Author Harlan Ellison, Who Died at 84," 29 June 2018
Rahul Gandhi is the scion of the Nehru-Gandhi family.

— Fox News, "Plane carrying Rahul Gandhi loses altitude, lands safely," 26 Apr. 2018
On the Democratic side of the insanely expensive gubernatorial race, billionaire J.B. Pritzker handily dispatched progressive state legislator Daniel Biss and political scion Chris Kennedy, who neatly split the anti-Pritzker vote.

— ed kilgore, Daily Intelligencer, "Incumbents and Big Spenders Win Illinois Primary – But Only by a Hair," 21 Mar. 2018
The 1915 show, about the love affair between an aspiring young singer from the provinces and the scion of a wealthy Viennese family, takes aim at the rigid class divisions of the period.

— john von rhein, chicagotribune.com, "Recommended Chicago classical concerts for June 29-July 8," 28 June 2018
Other members of the group included Russian metals tycoon Oleg Deripaska and banking-family scions Nathaniel and Jacob Rothschild.

— isobel lee, WSJ, "Business-Friendly Government Boosts Resort Business in Montenegro," 5 June 2018
The spreadsheet-like intensity of his schedule sits just fine with this scion of country music titan Willie Nelson.

— randy lewis, latimes.com, "Lukas Nelson, on his way to Stagecoach with Promise of the Real, talks Gaga, Neil Young and serendipity," 25 Apr. 2018
Trump endorsed semi-perennial candidate and basketball scion Danny Tarkanian in this race, mainly to get him out of what was then a Senate primary against Heller.

— ed kilgore, Daily Intelligencer, "GOP Could Get Even Trumpier in June 12 Primaries," 12 June 2018
So what’s an embattled scion with a genetic imperative to win the back pages to do?

— mark lisanti, Vanities, "The Trump Family Power Rankings: Be Best, but Not Too Best," 11 May 2018

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'scion.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Get Familial With scion

Scion derives from the Middle English sioun and Old French cion and is related to the Old English cīth and the Old High German kīdi (meaning "sprout" or "shoot"). When it first sprouted in English in the 14th century, scion meant "a shoot or twig." That sense withered in horticultural contexts, but the word branched out, adding the grafting-related meaning we know today. A figurative sense also blossomed referring to one's descendants, with particular reference to those who are descendants of notable families.