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

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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”

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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

The $111-billion transaction culminated a year-long battle by the 43-year-old tech scion to add Warner Bros.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 6, 2026

That included Venu Srinivasan, a scion of an automotive industry dynasty, who along with Noel Tata represents the Tata Trusts on the Tata Sons board, but nevertheless voted for Chandrasekaran.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 27, 2026

It was founded in 1978 by Steven Loui, a talented engineer and scion of a powerful Hawaiian shipping family.

From Salon ● Sep. 23, 2026

The 43-year-old tech scion — a film aficionado who has spent two decades building his career in Hollywood — has told associates he doesn’t want to leave L.A.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 14, 2026

And if he, good Christian, scion of a striving class, patron saint of the twice as good, could be forever bound, who then could not?

From "Between the World and Me" by Ta-Nehisi Coates

Plenty of business scions have inherited a fortune and used it to make a slightly bigger hoard.

From Salon ● Sep. 6, 2026

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

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

Outlanders, foreigners, and freedmen were not allowed inside the Black Wall save at the invitation of those who dwelt within, scions of the Old Blood who could trace their ancestry back to Valyria itself.

From "A Dance with Dragons" by George R. R. Martin

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Related Words

• heir

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