heirloom
Americannoun
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a family possession handed down from generation to generation.
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Law. property neither personal nor real that descends to the heir of an estate as part of the real property.
adjective
noun
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an object that has been in a family for generations
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property law a chattel inherited by special custom or in accordance with the terms of a will
Etymology
Origin of heirloom
First recorded in 1375–1425, heirloom is from the late Middle English word heirlome. See heir, loom 1
Explanation
An heirloom is something passed down in a family for generations. Your grandma's prized necklace could be an heirloom. If you know that an heir is a younger person in a family who will inherit things when relatives die, you have a clue to the meaning of heirloom. An heirloom is a special thing that's handed down, sometimes through a will, but often just from person to person. A portrait of an ancestor could be an heirloom. Many families pass down heirloom jewelry. If you hear someone say, "This belonged to my great-great-grandfather" they're probably talking about an heirloom.
Vocabulary lists containing heirloom
The Crossover
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Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince
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Lesson 5
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
“I have never desecrated any family heirloom or intruded upon anyone’s private memorial,” she wrote.
From Los Angeles Times • Mar. 6, 2026
After that formative bowl, he founded Rancho Gordo in 2001 and hustled to get heirloom beans in front of anyone willing to try them.
From The Wall Street Journal • Jan. 10, 2026
At Camden Harbour Inn, pastry chef Gwynthe Frenchette served me a tartlet of heirloom Gravenstein apples from nearby School House Farm, topped by a tidy quenelle of applewood-smoked almond ice cream.
From The Wall Street Journal • Oct. 10, 2025
Another fan, Riley Beresford, 25, from Nottingham, has inherited a copy of Sabbath's 1970 single Paranoid as a family heirloom from his grandmother.
From BBC • Jul. 2, 2025
I slice and slice, a basketful of strangely shaped heirloom tomatoes.
From "We Were Liars" by E. Lockhart
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
