Etymograph

English

heir

Heir comes from Anglo-Norman eir, from Latin hērēs ‘heir, heiress’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *ǵʰeh₁- ‘to leave behind, abandon’.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*ǵʰeh₁-‘to leave behind, abandon’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-European, derivedc. 4500–2500 BCE*ǵʰeh₁ro-‘derelict’reconstructed
  3. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEhērēs‘heir, heiress’
  4. Anglo-Normanc. 1066–1400eir
  5. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500heir
  6. Englishearliest quotation c. 1590–1592heir

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*ǵʰeh₁-‘to leave behind, abandon’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-European, derivedc. 4500–2500 BCE*ǵʰeh₁ro-‘derelict’reconstructed
  3. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEhērēs‘heir, heiress’
  4. Anglo-Normanc. 1066–1400eir
  5. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500heir
  6. Englishearliest quotation c. 1590–1592heir

Earliest quotation: c. 1590–1592, William Shakespeare, The Taming of the Shrew: “I am my father's heir and only son.”

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *ǵʰeh₁- ‘to leave behind, abandon’

go, gone, inherit, forego, 20 more

through Latin hērēs ‘heir, heiress’

heritage, hereditary, heredity, 2 more

Today it means

noun Someone who inherits, or is designated to inherit, the property of another.

Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.

Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *ǵʰeh₁- / heir

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