scion

American  

[sahy-uhn] / ˈsaɪ ən /

noun

1. a descendant or heir, especially of a wealthy or powerful family.

   She's a familiar face in this Wyoming town, the third-generation scion of a cattle-ranching family.

   The two men were scions of the most powerful dynasties in the world.

   Synonyms:

   progeny, offshoot, issue, child

2. Sometimes cion a shoot or twig, especially one cut for grafting or planting; a cutting.

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scion British  

/ ˈsaɪən /

noun

1. a descendant, heir, or young member of a family

2. a shoot or twig of a plant used to form a graft

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scion Scientific  

/ sī′ən /

1. A detached shoot or twig containing buds from a woody plant, used in grafting.

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Etymology

Origin of scion

First recorded in 1275–1325; Middle English: “shoot, twig,” from Old French cion, from Frankish kī- (unrecorded) + Old French -on, noun suffix; compare Old English cīnan, Old Saxon kīnan, Old High German chīnan “to sprout,” Old English cīth, Old Saxon kīth “sprout”

Explanation

Use the word scion when talking about a young member of a family that is known to be wealthy, powerful or otherwise important, such as a prince, heiress or the children of, say, the President. Scion sounds a little bit like son, which is helpful because it almost always means the son, daughter or descendant of a rich or prominent family. Its earliest examples were used to refer to the young shoots of larger, older plants. It's not surprising, then, that over the centuries its meaning has shifted to include the human offspring of certain well-established families. These days it's invariably used to talk about a person such as Prince William or, say, the late John F. Kennedy, Jr. — both of whom are or were scions of their respective families.

Example Sentences

The silver Scion was traveling west on Pacific Coast Highway around 3:45 a.m. when it crashed into a fence and flipped onto the steps, police told KTLA.

From Los Angeles Times • Jun. 8, 2026

Just over a decade ago, Toyota’s Scion brand began selling the tiny iQ car, Daimler’s Smart turned heads with the aptly named two-seater called the Fortwo, and Fiat set U.S. sales records with the 500.

From The Wall Street Journal • Dec. 13, 2025

Burry’s Scion Asset Management bought put options with a notional value of $187 million on Nvidia stock, a regulatory filing for the quarter ending Sept. 30 shows.

From Barron's • Nov. 4, 2025

And we can consider Michael Burry of hedge fund Scion Asset Management in the cautious camp.

From MarketWatch • Oct. 31, 2025

When he’d started Scion, he’d told potential investors that, because he was in the business of making unfashionable bets, they should evaluate him over the long term—say, five years.

From "The Big Short" by Michael Lewis

Related Words

• heir