Meaning & use
heirloom
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Meanings
nouncountable
A treasured object that has been handed down in a family for generations.
Grammar: Has a plural: family heirlooms. The h is silent in the first syllable.
Patterns
- a family heirloom
- an heirloom from someone
The pearl necklace is a family heirloom from my great-grandmother.
He kept his grandfather's watch as an heirloom.
They treat the old quilt as a precious heirloom.
nouncountable
A traditional variety of plant or animal that has been grown or bred for many years and passed on, not mass produced.
Grammar: Often used before a noun in gardening: heirloom tomatoes.
Patterns
- an heirloom variety
- heirloom seeds
The heirloom tomatoes in her garden come in odd shapes and colors.
The farm saves heirloom seeds each autumn.
This heirloom apple has been grown here for two centuries.
nouncountablefigurative
Something of value passed on from an earlier time, such as a custom or story.
Grammar: Used figuratively: a cultural heirloom.
Patterns
- a cultural heirloom
The folk song is a cultural heirloom of the region.
Her recipes are a kind of heirloom passed through the village.
Word forms
| plural | heirlooms |
|---|
Common combinations
- family heirloom
- The clock is a family heirloom.
- pass down an heirloom
- They plan to pass down the ring as an heirloom.
- heirloom tomato
- Heirloom tomatoes taste sweeter to many cooks.
- treasured heirloom
- The chest was a treasured heirloom.
- heirloom seeds
- She orders heirloom seeds from a small farm.
Synonyms and how they differ
- keepsake
- A keepsake is anything kept in memory of a person, but it need not be old or handed down.
- inheritance
- Inheritance is the whole of what you receive, often money, while an heirloom is one valued object.
- antique
- An antique is simply an old item, but an heirloom is tied to a family.
- relic
- A relic is a surviving object from the past, often historic or religious.
Opposites
Word family
- heir noun
- a person who will receive property or a title
- heiress noun
- a woman who inherits wealth
- inherit verb
- to receive from someone who has died
- inheritance noun
- what a person receives from a deceased relative
Commonly confused: heirloom or heirlooms vs. antiques? heirloom or air?
heirloom vs heirlooms vs. antiques
An heirloom is defined by being passed down in a family, while an antique is defined by its age.
heirloom vs air
Air sounds like heir. They differ in spelling and meaning, so check spelling in writing.
Practice
The silver spoon was an ___ that had belonged to four generations of her family.
Choose one answer.
An heirloom is an object passed down through a family. A souvenir is bought as a reminder of a trip, and a replica is a copy, so neither fits a spoon owned across four generations.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “heirloom”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.