heirn.
/ɛː/, U.S. /ɛ(ə)r/ 1. The person who is entitled by law to succeed another in the enjoyment of property or rank, upon the death of the latter; one who so succeeds; in general use, one who receives or is entitled to receive property of any kind as the legal representative of a former owner.The word is correctly applied to either a male or a female, although, in the latter sense, heiress n. has been in general use since 17th cent. In Law a person is not called an heir to any property until, through the death of its possessor, he becomes entitled to it (nemo est heres viventis). As to the limitations of the word in Common Law and in the Civil Law and systems founded thereon, see quots. 1651, 1861, 1876.
ΘΚΠ
society > law > legal right > right of possession or ownership > right to succeed to title, position, or estate > succession > [noun] > descent by inheritance > heir
erewardc975
arfnamec1000
heirc1275
inheritor1433
heritor1475
inheritanta1535
c1275 Laȝamon Brut 23115 Þat þe king of Cisille his dead and eyr naueþ he nanne.
1297 R. Gloucester's Chron. (1724) 469 Henri is eldoste sone, & is eir al so.
a1300 Cursor Mundi 2565 He þin ere [v.rr. ayr(e] sal noght be.
c1300 Beket 24 For the Princes heir heo was.
c1330 R. Mannyng Chron. (1810) 56 Com Edward, Eilred sonne..Right heyre of þe lond.
c1380 Sir Ferumbras (1879) l. 3483 He ys myn ayr after my ded To broke myn heritage.
c1384 Bible (Wycliffite, E.V.) (Douce 369(2)) (1850) Matt. xxi. 38 This is the eire; cume ȝe, slea we hym.
c1386 G. Chaucer Man of Law's Tale 668 Crist whan him lust may sende me an hair [v.rr. heir(e, haire, eyr].
c1400 (?c1380) Cleanness l. 52 To marie his here dere.
c1400 (?c1380) Cleanness (1920) l. 666 Sende to Sare a soun & an hayre.
1417 Surtees Misc. (1888) 12 Thomas Duffeld sonne and ayre unto Richard Duffeld Esquier.
1475 Bk. Noblesse 2 Dame Maude, Emperes, soule doughter and heire to..Henry the first.
c1475 Partenay 5554 Disherite shall be your hoires manyfold.
?1510 T. More tr. G. F. Pico della Mirandola Lyfe I. Picus sig. c.iv The heyer of his landes he made ye pore peple of the hospitall of florence.
1556 W. Lauder Compend. Tractate Dewtie of Kyngis sig. C3v The better is ȝouris Ȝour Hearis, and als ȝour Successouris.
1590 E. Spenser Faerie Queene i. ii. sig. B6 The onely haire Of a most mighty king.
c1600 Hist. & Life James VI (1825) 122 The airis of the Lord Fleyming..and uthers that war slayne.
1634 T. Herbert Relation Some Yeares Trauaile 133 Fatima, daughter and heire of their greatest Prophet Mahomet.
1651 W. G. tr. J. Cowell Inst. Lawes Eng. 128 The Civillians and wee have a different acceptation of the word Heire; for they call him an Heir whom the Testator nominates in his Will: And we him, who is next of Kin to the party deceased, to whom a Fee doth of right belong, after the death of the Ancestor.
1694 Ld. Delamere Wks. 95 For this word Heir to the Crown was not heard of till Arbitrary Power began to put forth.
1712 London Gaz. No. 5009/4 Sarah Lewis..Heir to the said Rebecca Warren.
1757 tr. J. G. Keyssler Trav. II. 382 The heirs of the founder being, by his will, obliged to have it twice a year carefully cleaned.
1767 W. Blackstone Comm. Laws Eng. ii. xiv. 201 An heir..is he upon whom the law casts the estate immediately on the death of the ancestor.
1767 W. Blackstone Comm. Laws Eng. ii. xiv. 208 By law no inheritance can vest, nor can any person be the actual complete heir of another, till the ancestor is previously dead..Before that time the person who is next in the line of succession is called an heir apparent, or heir presumptive.
1828 J. Jekyll Let. 24 Jan. in Corr. (1894) 177 The prospect..of Lady Ellenborough presenting him with a heir or a heiress.
1841 M. Elphinstone Hist. India I. i. i. 29 On failure of heirs, the property of others escheats to the King.
1861 G. Ross W. Bell's Dict. Law Scotl. (rev. ed.) (at cited word) The term heir does not mean merely the heir-at-law; it means also the heir by destination; nor does it mean the heir in heritage only; it is likewise applied to the person who succeeds to the moveable estate.
1876 K. E. Digby Introd. Hist. Law Real Prop. x. 338 The word ‘heir’ in English law has a sense far more limited than the word ‘haeres’ in Roman law. The ‘heir’ is the person on whom the real estate of a deceased intestate devolves. He is opposed to the devisee who is the person to whom real property is left by will, and to the executor or administrator who succeeds to the personal estate.
2. transferred. One who possesses, or is entitled at some future time to possess, any gift, endowment, or quality in succession to another. The idea of succession is very often lost, so that the word frequently means little more than one to whom something (e.g. joy, punishment, etc.) is morally due.
ΘΚΠ
society > morality > dueness or propriety > [noun] > deserving (good or ill) > one who > in succession to another
heira1300
a1300 Cursor Mundi 23555 For þai ar airs al wit[h] crist.
c1426 J. Audelay Poems (1931) 11 Ayres of heuen blys.
1549 Bk. Common Prayer (STC 16267) Priuate Baptisme f. vi* By the lauer of regeneracion in Baptisme, made the childe of God, and heire of euerlastyng life.
1604 W. Shakespeare Hamlet iii. i. 65 The hart-ake, and the thousand naturall shocks That flesh is heire to. View more context for this quotation
1712 A. Pope tr. Statius First Bk. Thebais in Misc. Poems 7 Thou, great Heir of all thy Father's Fame.
1821 Ld. Byron Marino Faliero (2nd issue) iv. ii. 127 Such examples will find heirs.
1836 J. Gilbert Christian Atonem. i. 26 Before the first-born of the human race became the heir of failure and of its bitter fruits.
1842 Ld. Tennyson Locksley Hall in Poems (new ed.) II. 110 I the heir of all the ages, in the foremost files of time.
1873 P. G. Hamerton Intellect. Life (1876) vii. v. 250 Heirs of a nobility of spirit.
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society > society and the community > kinship or relationship > kinsman or relation > child > [noun]
bairn830
childOE
foodc1225
whelp?c1225
birtha1325
first-begottenc1384
conceptiona1398
impc1412
heir1413
foddera1425
fryc1480
collop?1518
increase1552
spawn1589
under-bougha1661
prognate1663
chickadee1860
1413 Pilgr. Sowle (1859) i. xv. 12 I am adredde lest charyte be dede, withouten heyer, or yssue of hir seed.
1594 W. Shakespeare Venus & Adonis (new ed.) Ded. Dedicating my vnpolisht lines to your Lordship... But if the first heyre of my inuention proue deformed, I shall be sory it had so noble a god-father.
Compounds
With qualifications. C1.
heir-at-law n. the person who succeeds another by right of blood in the enjoyment of his property; in English law confined to one who has such a right in real property, and distinguished from executors or administrators.
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society > law > legal right > right of possession or ownership > right to succeed to title, position, or estate > succession > [noun] > descent by inheritance > heir > heir-at-law
right heirc1330
heir of linec1575
heir-at-law1729
1729 G. Jacob New Law-dict. at Discent If he devise Lands to one who is Heir at Law, the Devise is void, and he shall take by Discent.
1859 J. Bright Speeches 3 If a man received landed property..as heir-at-law, it paid no legacy duty.
heir of blood n. see quot. 1658.
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1658 E. Phillips New World Eng. Words Heire of Blood in Common Law, is he who succeedeth by right of blood in any mans Lands or Tenements in fee, but heir of Inheritance is he that cannot be defeated of his inheritance upon any displeasure.
heir of the body n. see body n. 10b.
heir in capite n. the heir to land held directly of the sovereign.
ΚΠ
1839 T. Keightley Hist. Eng. (new ed.) I. 131 The heir ‘in capite’, on coming of age was bound to take Knighthood or pay a fine to the King.
Categories »
heir of conquest n. Scots Law the heir of an ancestor who acquired the estate in question by purchase and not by succession (see conquest n. 6).
heir by custom n. one who succeeds by virtue of a particular or local custom, e.g. Borough English, under which the youngest son succeeds his father.
heir-designate n. one who has been designated as a person's heir.
ΘΚΠ
society > law > legal right > right of possession or ownership > right to succeed to title, position, or estate > succession > [noun] > descent by inheritance > heir > heir-designate
heir-designate1909
1909 Daily Chron. 6 Sept. 3/3 Her relatives, heirs-designate of Charles Dorrien in the scrap of paper lying in his widow's writing-desk.
1961 B. Fergusson Watery Maze xii. 311 The meeting in Carthage on Christmas Day, with Churchill presiding, and Eisenhower and Wilson as his heir-designate.
heir by destination n. Scots Law ‘the person who is entitled to succeed, failing the person to whom an estate is disponed’ (Bell Dict. Law Scotl.).
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1861 G. Ross W. Bell's Dict. Law Scotl. (rev. ed.) (at cited word) The term heir does not mean merely the heir-at-law; it means also the heir by destination; nor does it mean the heir in heritage only; it is likewise applied to the person who succeeds to the moveable estate.
heir by devise n. ‘he who is made, by will, the testator's heir or devisee, and has no other right or interest than the will gives him’ (Wharton Law Lex.).
heir of entail n. = heir in tail n.
ΘΚΠ
society > law > legal right > right of possession or ownership > right to succeed to title, position, or estate > succession > [noun] > descent by inheritance > heir > heir to entailed estate
heir general1491
heir in tailc1575
heir of entail1861
1861 G. Ross W. Bell's Dict. Law Scotl. (rev. ed.) 806/2 An heir of entail in possession was empowered to disentail the estate.
heir female n. an heiress; also an heir (male or female) whose rights are derived through a female or females.
ΘΚΠ
society > law > legal right > right of possession or ownership > right to succeed to title, position, or estate > succession > [noun] > descent by inheritance > heir > female heir or heir through female ancestors
heir femalec1436
c1436 Domesday Ipswich (BL Add. 25011) in T. Twiss Black Bk. Admiralty (1873) II. 121 Tenementz..ben partable as weel be twixen heires male as be twixen heyres female.
c1575 Balfour's Practicks (1754) 227 Ane air mail or female may enter to his blanch landis at ony time.
1609 J. Skene tr. Regiam Majestatem 59 Lands halden be frie Soccage, quhen heires male and famell baith persews.
1611 R. Cotgrave Dict. French & Eng. Tongues Hoir de quenouille, an inheritrix, heire female, daughter and heire.
1704 Clarendon's Hist. Rebellion III. xiv. 423 Having lately fallen to Heirs Females.
heir general n. = heir-at-law n.: used to include heirs female as well as heirs male.
ΘΚΠ
society > law > legal right > right of possession or ownership > right to succeed to title, position, or estate > succession > [noun] > descent by inheritance > heir > heir to entailed estate
heir general1491
heir in tailc1575
heir of entail1861
1491 Act 7 Hen. VII c. 15 She was heire generall to John Mountagu late Erle of Salesbury.
c1575 Balfour's Practicks (1754) 232 The ȝounger brother~german..sould be servit and retourit air general or universal to him, and not the elder.
a1715 Bp. G. Burnet Hist. Own Time (1724) I. 457 In England, Spain and Sweden, the heir general did succeed: Whereas it was only the heir male in France, and Germany.
1791 J. Boswell Life Johnson anno 1776 II. 3 My father had declared a predilection for heirs general, that is, males and females indiscriminately.
1873 W. H. Dixon Hist. Two Queens IV. xix. v. 31 All parties in the suit..should know which lands were settled on the heirs male, which on the heirs general.
heir of inheritance n. see quot. 1658 for heir of blood n.
ΚΠ
1658Heir of Inheritance [see heir of blood n.].
Categories »
heir of inventory n. Scots Law = beneficiary heir n. at Compounds 2 (see below).
heir of line n. Scots Law = heir-at-law n.
ΘΚΠ
society > law > legal right > right of possession or ownership > right to succeed to title, position, or estate > succession > [noun] > descent by inheritance > heir > heir-at-law
right heirc1330
heir of linec1575
heir-at-law1729
c1575 Balfour's Practicks (1754) 325 The airis of line..sould be first warnit and discussit..befoir the airis of tailȝie.
1888 K. Lee Imperfect Gentleman I. 59 John Scudamore, heir of line of that Sir Alan Scudamore..who married Joan.
heir male n. an heir who is a male, and who traces his descent from the ancestor in question wholly through males.
ΘΚΠ
society > law > legal right > right of possession or ownership > right to succeed to title, position, or estate > succession > [noun] > descent by inheritance > heir > male heir or heir through male ancestors
heir male1450
1450 Rolls of Parl. V. 188/1 To hym and to his heires masles of his body lawfully begoten.
1463 in S. Tymms Wills & Inventories Bury St. Edmunds (1850) 24 And for defawte of eyr male of the seid Thomas than wil I John..my neve haue it, to hym and his eyres male.
1487 (a1380) J. Barbour Bruce (St. John's Cambr.) xx. 130 Gif it fell that his sone davy Deit but air male [1489 Adv. ayr male] of his body Gottyn.
1614 J. Selden Titles of Honor 196 Reseruing..the reuersion to themselues in default of heires masles.
1697 N. Luttrell Diary in Brief Hist. Relation State Affairs (1857) IV. 172 He cutting of the entail from the heirs males.
1814 W. Scott Waverley III. xvi. 234 From a romantic idea of not prejudicing this young man's right as heir-male . View more context for this quotation
1818 W. Cruise Digest Laws Eng. Real Prop. (ed. 2) VI. xxxviii. xii. 315 An estate in tail male was vested in Edmund Hicks, as heir male of the body of Launcelot Hicks.
heir portioner n. Scots Law see quots.
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society > law > legal right > right of possession or ownership > right to succeed to title, position, or estate > succession > [noun] > descent by inheritance > heir > coheir
comparcionerc1475
parcener1489
coparcener1503
copartner?1504
co-inheritor1526
coheir1532
fellow-heir1542
coheritor1548
comportioner1609
heir portioner1655
1655 in Z. Boyd Zion's Flowers (1855) App. p. xxix/2 The Airs portioners of umle Mr. Zacharie Boyd.
1793 Erskine's Inst. Law Scotl. (ed. 3) II. 834 Each heir-portioner has an equal interest in the succession, in so far as it is divisable.
heir of provision n. = heir by destination n.
heir presumptive n. he who, if the ancestor should die immediately, would be his heir, but whose right of inheritance may be defeated by the contingency of some nearer heir being born.
ΘΚΠ
society > law > legal right > right of possession or ownership > right to succeed to title, position, or estate > succession > [noun] > descent by inheritance > heir > heir presumptive
heir presumptive1628
c1180 Glanvill ix. i Recipere homagium recti heredis.]
1628 R. Le Grys tr. J. Barclay Argenis iv. 334 The Souldier..with a new oath bound himselfe to the presumptiue Heire.
1683 Britanniæ Speculum 272 Apparent (or according to the new-coyned Distinction, Presumptive) Heir of the Crown is His Royal Highness James [etc.]
1875 W. Stubbs Constit. Hist. III. xviii. 202 The duke of Clarence, the heir-presumptive to the throne.
heir special n. (a) = heir by custom n.; (b) one to whom an estate passes by virtue of letters patent or a deed of entail.
heir in tail n. (Scottish heir of entail, heir of tailȝie) the person who succeeds or is entitled to succeed to an entailed estate by virtue of the deed of entail; tenant in tail in remainder. See also heir apparent n.
ΘΚΠ
society > law > legal right > right of possession or ownership > right to succeed to title, position, or estate > succession > [noun] > descent by inheritance > heir > heir to entailed estate
heir general1491
heir in tailc1575
heir of entail1861
c1575 Balfour's Practicks (1754) 325 The airis of tailȝie may be callit and persewit in supplement.
1685 Sc. Acts Jas. II c. 26 It shall not be Lawfull to the Airs of Tailȝie to sell annalȝie or Dispone the said Lands.
1872 Spectator 21 Sept. 1203 Laissez-faire management, supineness because of the interest of the heir-in-tail.
C2.
beneficiary heir n. Scots Law an apparent heir in heritage who enters upon his predecessor's estate subject to a formal inventory being made, in order to avoid liability for debts beyond the amount stated in such inventory.
ΚΠ
1853 Bouvier's Law Dict. (at cited word) Beneficiary heirs are those who have accepted the succession, under the benefit of an inventory regularly made.
collateral heir n. see collateral adj. 4.
conventional heir n. one who is entitled by virtue of a contract.
Categories »
forced heir n. Civil Law a person who cannot be disinherited.
last heir n. see quot. 1672.
ΚΠ
1672 T. Manley Νομοθετης: Cowell's Interpreter sig. Rr2vb Last heyre..Is he to whom Land comes by Escheat, for want of lawful Heirs, that is, the Lord of whom they held in some cases, but in others the King.
right heir n. = heir-at-law n. at Compounds 1.
ΘΚΠ
society > law > legal right > right of possession or ownership > right to succeed to title, position, or estate > succession > [noun] > descent by inheritance > heir > heir-at-law
right heirc1330
heir of linec1575
heir-at-law1729
c1330 R. Mannyng Chron. (1810) 56 Hardeknoute's broþer on his moder side, Right heyre of þe lond.
1411 in F. J. Furnivall Fifty Earliest Eng. Wills (1882) 20 And for defawte of issue of þe forseyd William, y wille þat þe remaynder be to my ryte heirs.
1628 E. Coke 1st Pt. Inst. Lawes Eng. 8 b For the benefit and safety of right heires.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1898; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
heirv.
a. transitive. To inherit; to be heir to (a thing or person); to acquire by inheritance or succession.
ΚΠ
c1330 R. Mannyng Chron. Wace (Rolls) 13483 Þey wonne þe londes þat we now heyre.
?1611 G. Chapman tr. Homer Iliads v. 161 Not one son more To heir his goods.
1639 G. Daniel Ecclus. xl. 49 His Children shall but heir him; vnto them Shall be noe Sons.
1712 A. Pope tr. Statius First Bk. Thebais in Misc. Poems 37 Two fair Daughters heir'd his State and Throne.
1813 W. Scott Bridal of Triermain ii. xvii. 81 She is the loveliest maid, beside, That ever heir'd a crown.
1867 J. B. Rose tr. Virgil Æneis 13 Pygmalion, her brother, heired the throne.
b. intransitive. To inherit. rare.
ΚΠ
1900 J. Hastings Dict. Bible III. 270 The younger brother, instead of himself heiring, raises up heirs to the deceased.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1898; most recently modified version published online March 2020).
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