scion

[ sahy-uhn ]

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 ci·on. a shoot or twig, especially one cut for grafting or planting; a cutting.

scion

/ 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

scion

/ sī′ən /

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

Word History and Origins

Origin of scion¹

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”

Word History and Origins

Origin of scion¹

C14: from Old French cion, of Germanic origin; compare Old High German chīnan to sprout

Example Sentences

Meijer, the scion of the eponymous Midwestern grocery chain family, is hoping his sizable financial advantage can save him.

From FiveThirtyEight

Washington also slapped penalties on the scion of the Kyaw Thaung family, who the New York Times reported has strong ties to the Myanmar military and helped it procure equipment.

From Time

The cycle plays out all over again but with a new, young scion.

From Time

The scion of a wealthy Florida family, Greenberg, now 36, had swept into the Seminole County tax collector’s office in 2016 with a partially self-funded campaign, defeating longtime incumbent and fellow Republican Ray Valdes on the promise of reform.

From Washington Post

The contemporary State Department is the scion of America’s first intelligence and diplomatic organization, the Committee of Secret Correspondence.

From Washington Post

He was a scion of immense wealth, a civil rights activist, and an art collector and patron.

From The Daily Beast

The party will need to do much, much more than replace one scion with another if it is ever to come back to national prominence.

From The Daily Beast

The rock star scion became one of the loudest voices of her generation; prolific on social media and in the British press.

From The Daily Beast

A DuPont family scion was convicted of sexually assaulting his daughter but received no jail time.

From The Daily Beast

Sharif, 63, was born into money as the scion of a very wealthy family in Lahore.

From The Daily Beast

Such an alliance was not to be tolerated for a moment, in connection with the last scion of his name and race.

From Project Gutenberg

Personally, I enjoyed the frank, untrammelled and prodigiously accomplished scion of a vulgar race.

From Project Gutenberg

Doctor Bataille, poor man, is the scion of an ordinary ancestry within the narrow limits of flesh and blood.

From Project Gutenberg

The compulsory subdivision of estates at the death of the owner enables every scion to live, if not to thrive, on the home stock.

From Project Gutenberg

Why, I assumed that your quest of the quack's scion would have trained you down fit for anything.

From Project Gutenberg

Related Words

• heir