scion

American  

[sahy-uhn] / ˈsaɪ ən /

noun

• scions
  plural

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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Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• scions
  plural

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

See Examples For:

scion scions

During that time, Wood went from scion of his family business to its patriarch, and expanded the company into a beloved convenience and gas-station giant.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 31, 2026

On Wednesday, the European Commission gave its consent, allowing tech scion David Ellison’s industry-reshaping merger to move forward in the countries that make up the European Union.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 22, 2026

Tech scion David Ellison’s proposed merger has been hurtling toward the finish line after securing approvals from the U.S.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 13, 2026

The house was part of the Nymans country estate, which was purchased by Ludwig Messel, wealthy scion of a German Jewish banking family in the 1890s.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 8, 2026

Although Nabokov was the scion of a Russian noble family, he detested the class-bound servility ubiquitous in the land of his birth.

From "1491" by Charles C. Mann

Call them “fail-sons,” incompetent scions who, no matter how hard they try, will never be as accomplished as their rich or powerful parents.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 22, 2026

In late November in Jamnagar, India, the scions of two of the most powerful families in the world stood face-to-face.

From Salon ● Jun. 11, 2026

The first venture capitalists were wealthy individuals like Brown and Englishman Matthew Boulton—who subsidized James Watt’s steam engine in Great Britain—and scions of wealthy dynasties like the Rockefellers in the U.S.

From Barron's ● Jan. 28, 2026

The scions of two Philippine political dynasties, Duterte and Marcos had initially competed for the presidency in the lead-up to the 2022 elections.

From BBC ● Feb. 5, 2025

Hampton’s student body ranged from youngsters taking their family’s first step onto the ladder of social mobility to the scions of the Talented Tenth.

From "Hidden Figures" by Margot Lee Shetterly

Related Words

• heir