heir English · revision 15205

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing|attested=c. 1275|origins=la hērēs}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /ˈɛɚ/; /ˈɛə̯/ ''(UK)''^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|enm|eir]], [[bor|xno|heir]], from [[m|fro|hoir]],^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline)^(MWU 2024) from [[la-lat|hērem]], for earlier [[la|hērēs|t=heir, heiress]] (stem hērēd-; see [[heredity]]).^(Hoad 1986)^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988) The Latin root has been compared with [[grc|χῆρος|tr=khêros|t=bereaved]].^(MWU 2024)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ The person entitled by law to inherit another's property: about 1275 in the OED, probably about 1225 in Barnhart, about 1300 in Etymonline.^(OED 1989)^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ A person entitled to possess something in the future, or one who takes over a tradition from another, is from before 1300.^(OED 1989)^(AHD) The verb, to inherit, is from about 1330.^(OED 1989) ''Heir apparent'' (late 14th century) keeps the French order of noun and adjective; it is the heir of a living person whose right is clear, who becomes the heir-at-law at that person's death.^(Etymonline) Heiress is from the 17th century, and [[heirloom]] from the 15th.^(Hoad 1986)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 1275 – heir.^(OED 1989)

+ * before 1300 – a successor to a tradition.^(OED 1989)

+ * c. 1330 – to heir, inherit.^(OED 1989)

+ * late 14th century – heir apparent.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A person who [[inherit|alt=inherits]], or is entitled to inherit, another's [[estate]].^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # A person who succeeds, or is next in line to succeed, to a [[hereditary]] title or office.^(AHD)

+ # A person or thing that carries on a tradition from a predecessor.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[heirless]]

+ * [[heirship]]

+ * [[coheir]]

+ * [[heirdom]]

+ * [[heiress]]

+ * [[heirloom]]

+ * [[hereditary]]

+ * [[heritage]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[heredity]]

+ * [[inherit]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ The h is silent, as in [[hour]] and [[honest]], and the word sounds the same as [[air]].^(Roach et al. 2011)^(Collins 2023)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}