heir
part of speech
noun (an heir, heirs)
meaning for a pupil
1) A person who will receive someone's money, house or other property when that person dies, as in «She is heir to the farm». tree →
2) The person who will become king, queen or ruler next, as in «the heir to the throne». tree →
3) Someone who carries on another person's work or ideas. tree →
sense in the lessons
In the Tanakh and Jewish tradition: Someone who takes over a person's property or place after their death. The Prophets and Writings also use it in a family-line sense: a widow in Tekoa fears her son's death will destroy the "heir," and Proverbs mentions a maidservant who becomes heir to her mistress. Interpretation: Abram worries that his servant will be his heir. God promises him a son, and later Isaac, not Ishmael, is named the heir. Tradition sees this as the passing on of the covenant. In Samuel the word shows how important it was for a family line to continue. In the primary lessons: In history lessons, kings and queens worried about having an heir; Henry VIII's search for a son is a famous example. In the news, the heir to the British throne is the next in line. In law and family life, an heir inherits property. In stories, a lost heir often finds out who they are.
examples
- And Abram said: 'Behold, to me Thou hast given no seed, and, lo, one born in my house is to be mine heir.' (Torah GEN.15.3, JPS 1917) tree →
- Wherefore she said unto Abraham: 'Cast out this bondwoman and her son; for the son of this bondwoman shall not be heir with my son, even with Isaac.' (Torah GEN.21.10, JPS 1917) tree →
- And, behold, the word of the LORD came unto him, saying: 'This man shall not be thine heir; but he that shall come forth out of thine own bowels shall be thine heir.' (Torah GEN.15.4, JPS 1917) tree →
- For an odious woman when she is married; and a handmaid that is heir to her mistress. (Writings PRO.30.23, JPS 1917) tree →
- And, behold, the whole family is risen against thy handmaid, and they said: Deliver him that smote his brother, that we may kill him for the life of his brother whom he slew, and so destroy the heir also. (Prophets 2SA.14.7, JPS 1917) tree →
- Prince William is the heir to the throne. tree →
- Henry VIII wanted a son as his heir. tree →
- She was the only heir to her uncle's fortune. tree →
- In the story, the orphan turned out to be the lost heir of the kingdom. tree →
- The farm passed to the oldest heir. tree →
- He saw himself as the heir to his grandad's woodworking skills. tree →
- Take my daughter; be my heir; rule my kingdom. tree →
note
The h is silent: say «air», so it takes «an»: «an heir». Homophones: «air» and «ere». An «heirloom» is a treasure passed down a family. «Heiress» is an old word for a woman heir.
In the corpora
- Hath he no heir?
- For an odious woman when she is married; and a handmaid that is heir to her mistress.
Trees and pragmatics
Every meaning and example of «heir» parsed by Mova, each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.