Etymology

heirloom

heir·loom
H4E1I1R1L1O1O1M3

Today it means: A valued possession that has been passed down through the generations. Full definition →

Middle English heirlome
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The story

  1. Middle English · inherited fromheirlome“heirloom”
  2. English todayheirloom

Inherited from Middle English heirlome (“heirloom”, literally “a tool or article passed to one's heirs”). By surface analysis, heir + loom. Displaced native Old English fæderġestrēon.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.