heirloom
- a family possession handed down from generation to generation.
- Law. property neither personal nor real that descends to the heir of an estate as part of the real property.
- noting or relating to an old plant variety that is being cultivated again: heirloom vegetables and fruits.Compare heritage(def 6).
Origin of heirloom
Related Words for heirloom
antique, birthright, gift, inheritance, reversion, legacy, patrimony, heritage, bequestExamples from the Web for heirloom
Contemporary Examples of heirloom
Walking through rows of Swiss chard, heirloom tomatoes, leeks, and artichokes, he can tell you exactly when each is at its peak.
They had to infect the perfectly adequate data with the totally improbable idea of a 400-year-old heirloom elk antler tool.
And then heirloom varieties tend to be more nutritious—and delicious—than modern, overbred varieties.
Unfortunately, most heirloom apple trees have long since been ripped out of the ground.
The jewelry—rock crystals inset in silver—was bold but not ostentatious thanks to its antique finish and heirloom quality.
Milan Fall Fashion Week 2012: Raf Simons’s Last Collection at Jil SanderRobin Givhan
February 25, 2012
Historical Examples of heirloom
He thinks that—that heirloom house of mine will look better in the daylight.
Thankful's InheritanceJoseph C. Lincoln
I'd swear that strong brow and frank look must be an heirloom.'
Lord KilgobbinCharles Lever
It was an heirloom, and she could never bring herself to part with it.
The Nebuly CoatJohn Meade Falkner
He opened a silver cigarette-case—an heirloom with a crest on it.
Erik DornBen Hecht
Their plough, an heirloom from remote antiquity, merely scratches the earth.
East of SuezFrederic Courtland Penfield
heirloom
- an object that has been in a family for generations
- property law a chattel inherited by special custom or in accordance with the terms of a will