Webster
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Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary · 1913

Heir

Heir (âr), n. [OE. heir, eir, hair, OF. heir, eir, F. hoir, L. heres; of uncertain origin. Cf. Hereditary, Heritage.] 1. One who inherits, or is entitled to succeed to the possession of, any property after the death of its owner; one on whom the law bestows the title or property of another at the death of the latter.

I am my father's heir and only son. Shak.

2. One who receives any endowment from an ancestor or relation; as, the heir of one's reputation or virtues.

And I his heir in misery alone. Pope.

Heir apparent. (Law.) See under Apparent. — Heir at law, one who, after his ancector's death, has a right to inherit all his intestate estate. Wharton (Law Dict.). — Heir presumptive, one who, if the ancestor should die immediately, would be his heir, but whose right to the inheritance may be defeated by the birth of a nearer relative, or by some other contingency.

Heir (âr), v. t. To inherit; to succeed to. [R.]

One only daughter heired the royal state. Dryden.

Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Noah Porter, editor (Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913). Public domain. Text as transcribed by MICRA, Inc., from Project Gutenberg. Changed for Deep Dive Bible: Greek, which our source spelled in Latin letters, set in Greek letters; entries of one spelling merged into one article; Greek words our source left out (shown as “?”), read from the 1898 printing, from the same plates (the Library of Congress’s copy), where the place could be found with certainty. Of the others, 1,362 (a word or a single letter each) were inferred by AI from the context by the dictionary’s own rules and are marked with a wavy underline (tap or point at one to see the note); the rest, which could not be inferred with confidence, are left as “?”.