HEIR APPARENT • DICTIONARY ONE.COM • Definition of Heir apparent

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/ɛr əpˈɛrənt/ Listen

noun

Heir n.

1.

One who inherits, or is entitled to succeed to the possession of, any property after the death of its owner; one on whom the law bestows the title or property of another at the death of the latter. "I am my father's heir and only son."

2.

One who receives any endowment from an ancestor or relation; as, the heir of one's reputation or virtues. "And I his heir in misery alone."

Heir apparent. (Law.) See under Apparent.

Heir at law, one who, after his ancector's death, has a right to inherit all his intestate estate.

Heir presumptive, one who, if the ancestor should die immediately, would be his heir, but whose right to the inheritance may be defeated by the birth of a nearer relative, or by some other contingency.

adjective

Apparent adj.

1.

Capable of being seen, or easily seen; open to view; visible to the eye; within sight or view. "The moon... apparent queen."

2.

Clear or manifest to the understanding; plain; evident; obvious; known; palpable; indubitable. "It is apparent foul play."

3.

Appearing to the eye or mind (distinguished from, but not necessarily opposed to, true or real); seeming; as the apparent motion or diameter of the sun. "To live on terms of civility, and even of apparent friendship." "What Berkeley calls visible magnitude was by astronomers called apparent magnitude."

Apparent horizon, the circle which in a level plain bounds our view, and is formed by the apparent meeting of the earth and heavens, as distinguished from the rational horizon.

Apparent time. See Time.

Heir apparent (Law), one whose to an estate is indefeasible if he survives the ancestor; in distinction from presumptive heir. See Presumptive.

Synonyms: Visible; distinct; plain; obvious; clear; certain; evident; manifest; indubitable; notorious.

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Etymology of 'Heir apparent'

Collaborative International Dictionary of English 0.48

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"Heir apparent" Quotes from Famous Books

... letters from Ashbourne, used to joke about Taylor's cattle:—'July 23, 1770. I have seen the great bull, and very great he is. I have seen likewise his heir apparent, who promises to enherit all the bulk and all the virtues of his sire, I have seen the man who offered an hundred guineas for the young bull, while he was yet little better than a calf.' Piozzi Letters, i. 33. 'July 3, 1771. The great bull ...

— Life Of Johnson, Vol. 3 • Boswell, Edited by Birkbeck Hill

... ruler of the Ch'u State destroyed the Ts'ai State, and offered up the heir apparent as a victim. An officer said, "This is inauspicious. If the five sacrificial animals may not be used promiscuously, how much less can a feudal prince ...

— Religions of Ancient China • Herbert A. Giles

... to such an extremity that if the British cabinet did not give him aid, he should be compelled to seek peace by giving his daughter, with Austria in her hand as her dowry, to Carlos, now King of Naples and heir apparent to the crown of Spain. He well knew that to prevent such an acquisition of power on the part of the Spanish monarch, who was also in intimate alliance with France, England would be ready to expend any amount of blood ...

— The Empire of Austria; Its Rise and Present Power • John S. C. Abbott

... character, it is difficult to say whether they are to be ascribed to nature, or to the strange training which he underwent. The history of his boyhood is painfully interesting. Oliver Twist in the parish workhouse, Smike at Dotheboys Hall, were petted children when compared with this wretched heir apparent of a crown. The nature of Frederic William was hard and bad, and the habit of exercising arbitrary power had made him frightfully savage. His rage constantly vented itself to right and left in curses and blows. When his Majesty took a walk, every human being fled before him, as if a tiger had ...

— Critical and Historical Essays, Volume III (of 3) • Thomas Babington Macaulay

... entrance to these was suspended a flat tablet with the inscription in four characters: 'Ancestral hall of the Chia family.' On the side of these was recorded the fact that it had been the handiwork of Wang Hsi-feng, specially promoted to the rank of Grand Tutor of the Heir Apparent, and formerly Chancellor of the Imperial Academy. On either side, was one of a pair ...

— Hung Lou Meng, Book II • Cao Xueqin

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