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heighten
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heir apparent
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heir

heir [ er ] (plural heirs)


noun 
Definition:
 
1. legal inheritor of something: somebody who holds the right to receive a property, position, or title of somebody else when that person dies

2. recipient of tradition: an inheritor of something such as a tradition, problem, or characteristic
Our generation is the unfortunate heir to decades of pollution.

[14th century. Via Old French (h)eir< Latin heres]

heir·less adjective
heir·ship noun

Spelling Note

See air.

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