heiress

Etymology

It is formed from English heir + -ess.^[2][3][4][5] The OED notes that the word was apparently introduced in the 17th century.^[2] Heir is from Anglo-Norman heir, Old French oir (“heir, successor”),^[3] from Late Latin hērem, beside hērēdem, the accusative of Latin hērēs (“heir, heiress”).^[2][3] The suffix -ess is from French -esse, from Late Latin -issa, from Ancient Greek -ισσα (-issa).^[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

A female heir: 1656, in B. Harris's translation of a history by J. N. de Parival.^[2] The 1989 edition of the OED dated it to 1659,^[6] and Etymonline to the 1650s,^[3] but Merriam-Webster gives 1607 as its first known use.^[7][8]

Semantic evolution

From a woman who inherits, the word came to be used especially of a woman who has inherited, or stands to inherit, a large fortune.^[3][7] Johnson (1755) defined it as "an inheritrix; a woman that inherits", quoting Waller and Dryden.^[9] The OED also records a figurative use.^[2] By the 19th century it formed compounds such as heiress-hunting (1861), and nonce words such as heiresshood and heiress-ship (1862) for the state of being an heiress.^[6][4] Black's Law Dictionary now marks the plain legal sense, a female heir, as archaic.^[10]

Timeline

• 1656 – a female heir; also figurative.^[2]
• 1861 – compounds such as heiress-hunting.^[6]
• 1862 – heiresshood, heiress-ship, the state of being an heiress.^[6]

Meanings

Noun

1. A woman who has inherited, or is expected to inherit, great wealth: The young heiress refused to join the family firm.^{[11][7][12][10]}
2. (law) A female heir.^[11][2][10]

Word family

• coheiress

Related words

• heir
• heredity
• hereditary
• heritage
• inherit

Usage notes

The OED gives British pronunciations stressed on either the first or the second syllable.^[2][4]

References

1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c d e f Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
4. ^ a b c Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
5. ^ Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
6. ^ a b c d Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
7. ^ a b c Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
8. ^ Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary (2003), 11th ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
9. ^ Johnson, Samuel (1755), A Dictionary of the English Language, London; 4th ed. 1773; Johnson's Dictionary Online, ed. Beth Rapp Young et al.
10. ^ a b c Garner, Bryan A., ed. (2004), Black's Law Dictionary, 8th ed., St. Paul, Minn.: Thomson West
11. ^ a b Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins
12. ^ The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (1992), 3rd ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin