Definition of "heir"
heir
noun
plural heirs, feminine heiress
Someone who inherits, or is designated to inherit, the property of another.
Quotations
As to eleemoſynary corporations, by the dotation the founder and his heirs are of common right the legal viſitors, to ſee that that property is rightly employed, which would otherwiſe have deſcended to the viſitor himſelf: […]
1765, William Blackstone, “Of Corporations”, in Commentaries on the Laws of England, book I (Of the Rights of Persons), Oxford, Oxfordshire: […] Clarendon Press, page 469
And no use for anyone to tell Charles that this was because the Family was in mourning for Mr Granville Darracott […] : Charles might only have been second footman at Darracott Place for a couple of months when that disaster occurred, but no one could gammon him into thinking that my lord cared a spangle for his heir.
1959, Georgette Heyer, chapter 1, in The Unknown Ajax
In ancient Greece, the Spartans developed rules that consolidated property into a narrow class of heirs, while the growing population of people left behind were reclassified as hypomeiones—inferiors.
2023 January 16, Evan Osnos, “The Getty Family’s Trust Issues”, in The New Yorker, New York, N.Y.: Condé Nast Publications, archived from the original on 2023-09-16
One who inherits, or has been designated to inherit, a hereditary title or office.
Quotations
Now, after the death of Queen Elizabeth II, William, 40, is the Prince of Wales and the heir to the British throne.
2022 September 16, Megan Specia, “Prince William Moves Into the Spotlight as Heir to the Throne”, in The New York Times, New York, N.Y.: The New York Times Company, archived from the original on 2023-04-30
Vittorio Emanuele, the Italian throne's last heir, was apprehended in 1978 after a teen died from a gunshot on an exclusive island.
2023 July 4, Lucy Mangan, “The King Who Never Was review – the gripping tale of the first royal to be arrested ’since Marie Antoinette’”, in Katharine Viner, editor, The Guardian, London: Guardian News & Media, archived from the original on 2023-08-06
A successor in a role, representing continuity with the predecessor.
Quotations
"I wish we were back in Tenth Street. But so many children came […] and the Tenth Street house wasn't half big enough; and a dreadful speculative builder built this house and persuaded Austin to buy it. Oh, dear, and here we are among the rich and great; and the steel kings and copper kings and oil kings and their heirs and dauphins. […]"
1907 August, Robert W[illiam] Chambers, chapter I, in The Younger Set, New York, N.Y.: D. Appleton & Company
verb
third-person singular simple present heirs, present participle heiring, simple past and past participle heired