scion

noun sci·on \ ˈsī-ən \

Updated on: 10 Apr 2018

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

Choi is serving a 20-year prison term; Samsung scion Lee Jae-yong was initially sentenced to five years in prison before his sentence was suspended on appeal; and Lotte chairman Shin Dong-bin was given 2½ years in prison.

— hyung-jin kim and kim tong-hyung, chicagotribune.com, "Disgraced South Korean ex-president gets 24-years in prison for massive corruption scandal," 6 Apr. 2018
Choi is serving a 20-year prison term; Samsung scion Lee Jae-yong was initially sentenced to five years in prison before his sentence was suspended on appeal; and Lotte chairman Shin Dong-bin was given 2½ years in prison.

— Time, "Ousted South Korean President Park Geun-Hye Has Been Sentenced to 24 Years in Prison," 6 Apr. 2018
In 1878, Henri de la Kethulle de Ryhove, scion of a centuries-old noble family from Ghent, bought the property.

— j.s. marcus, WSJ, "Once an Asylum, Then a Convent, Now a Home," 14 Mar. 2018
In an embarrassing setback for Vanderbilt family scion Anderson Cooper, CNN announced Thursday that Cooper’s in-house rival, Chris Cuomo, will be taking over its ratings challenged 9 p.m. hour.

— brian flood, Fox News, "CNN slashes Anderson Cooper’s program as network hopes to make room for anti-Trump Chris Cuomo," 14 Mar. 2018
Peppermint, spearmint, and cinnamon flavors were no longer enough to keep mouths happy, so gum scions took cues from kids, who are tiny humans with amateur palates and a deranged unsophisticated enthusiasm for novelty flavors.

— dayna evans, GQ, "There Are Too Many Flavors and It Has Turned the Snack Industry Into a Vicious Hellscape," 22 Mar. 2018
Meanwhile, a scion of the Bush family, George P. Bush, son of former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, is facing a primary in his bid for another term as Land Commissioner.

— alex seitz-wald, NBC News, "Texas-sized primaries mark official start to crucial midterm elections," 6 Mar. 2018
Samsung scion Lee Jae-yong was initially sentenced to five years in prison for offering bribes, but some of his convictions were overturned on appeal and the sentence was suspended.

— kim tong-hyung, USA TODAY, "South Korean prosecutors seek 30-year prison sentence for ex-president Park Geun-hye," 27 Feb. 2018
A decade after that assessment, a wealthy and cocksure scion of Queens, New York, transferred from Fordham University, in the Bronx, to Penn.

— alexander nazaryan, Newsweek, "What Is College Good For? Absolutely Nothing, Say Republicans (and Some Democrats)," 1 Feb. 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.