heir Hear it!

heir Definition

heir (er)

noun

  1. a person who inherits or is legally entitled to inherit, through the natural action of the law, another's property or title upon the other's death
  2. anyone who receives property of a deceased person either by will or by law
  3. a person who appears to get some trait from, or carries on in the tradition of, a predecessor

Etymology: ME < OFr < L heres: see heredity

heir Synonyms

heir

n.

scion, inheritor, heir presumptive, future possessor, legal heir, heir apparent, successor, descendent, one who inherits, heiress, beneficiary, heir expectant, heir general, heir at law, coheir, inheritor, grantee, devisee, crown prince.

Antonyms predecessor, incumbent, parent.

heir Finance Definition
A person who receives money or assets from the estate of a person who has died. An heir may receive the property and funds through the direction of a will or, if the deceased hasn’t left other instructions, by legal statute as the family member who is lawfully eligible to receive the estate’s proceeds.
heir Law Definition

n

Colloquially used to refer to anyone who inherits under a will or otherwise. 
collateral heir
A descendant through an indirect line, such as the issue of a sibling or cousin. See also issue.
heirs and assigns

Archaic

Archaic. A phrase formerly necessary for the creation of a fee simple.
lineal heir
An heir who is above or below the decedent in the direct line of descent, such as a parent or child.
heir Usage Examples

Converse of object

  • marry: Documents have been drawn up, which will allow Catherine to marry the new heir.
  • appoint: It follows, to shew why he is said to be an heir appointed.
  • serve: James, his son, was served heir 3rd July 1694.
  • survive: Their daughter and last surviving heir conveyed the estate to her husband, Henry Percy, first earl of Northumberland.
  • declare: As a result of his actions Niall was granted the union of kingship and Sovereignty being declared the rightful heir.
  • produce: A third attempt to produce an heir resulted in the birth of another daughter, Elizabeth, in December, 1820.

Adjective modifier

  • rightful: Who are the rightful heirs of Babylon or the Ottoman Empire?
  • legitimate: An only child, he did not leave any legitimate heir.
  • male: The Prince of Wales The Prince of Wales is a title created for the male heir to the throne.
  • sole: She is the sole female heir to the English throne to have been created Princess of Wales in her own right.
  • worthy: You also have to enrich your heritage, to prove you are a worthy heir.
  • spiritual: This center clears away the illusion that we are anything less than Divine children, spiritual heirs to the kingdom of Heaven.

Modifies a noun

  • male: In 1486 the manor was granted to John de Vere earl of Oxford and the heirs male of his body, ( fn.

Noun used with modifier

  • t: Eventually, however, t heir subconscious rebels against their new life.
  • T: T heir latest prank seems to be to tap into my article comment system.

Possessives

  • father: Two other brothers, Caratacus and Togodumnus, actively opposed the Roman invasion as their father's heirs.

Preposition: of

  • salvation: Hebrews 1:14 says, " They're sent forth to minister for them who shall be the heirs of salvation.
  • promise: Because we are heirs of the same promise of blessing and salvation that was given to him.
  • glory: God had forgiven him his sin, and had made him an heir of glory.
  • heaven: Did you say it with faith, and with an heir of heaven, that he was yours, and shall be so forever?
heir Quotes

God, whoat sundry times and indiversmannersspake in time past unto the fathers by the prophets,Hath in these last days spoken unto us by his Son, whom he hath appointed heir of all things, by whom he also made the worlds: Who being the brightness of his glory, and the express image of his person, and upholding all things by the word of his power, when he had by himself purged our sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high.

—Bible (NewTestament)

Every human being is born an heir to an inheritance to which he can succeed only in a process of learning.

—Oakeshott, Michael Joseph

I the heir of all the ages, in the foremost files of time.

—Tennyson

You never enjoy the world aright, till the sea itself floweth in your veins, till you are clothed with the heavens, and crowned with the stars: and perceive yourself to be the sole heir of the whole world.

—Traherne,Thomas

   What needs my Shakespeare for his honoured bones The labour of an age in pile'  d stones, Or that his hallowed relics should be hid Under a star-y-pointing pyramid? Dear son of memory, great heir of fame, What need'st thou such weak witness of thy name? Thou in our wonder and astonishment Hast built thyself a livelong monument.

—Milton,John

   Who sees pale Mammon pine amidst his store, Sees but a backward steward for the poor; This year a reservoir, to keep and spare, The next a fountain, spouting through his heir, In lavish streams to quench a country's thirst, And men and dogs shall drink him 'till they burst.

—Pope, Alexander

To sum up: your father, whom you love, dies, you are his heir, you come back to find that hardly was the corpse cold before his younger brother popped on to histhrone and into his sheets, thereby offending both legal and natural practice. Now why exactlyare you behaving in this extraordinary manner.

—Stoppard, SirTom originally Tom Straussler