Etymology

heir presumptive

Today it means: Someone who will become an heir (usually to a monarchy) only if no-one with a higher-ranking claim is born. Full definition →

French héritier présomptif
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The story

  1. French · calque ofhéritier présomptif
  2. English todayheir presumptive

A calque of French héritier présomptif, hence the unusual order of adjective following noun.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.