heirling

H4E1I1R1L1I1N1G2

A form of heir — Someone who inherits, or is designated to inherit, the property of another.

Scrabble 12

Meanings

nounheirling (plural heirlings)

plural heirlings

  1. diminutiveDiminutive of heir.

    Fanis slew his own sister for possession of the Shunstone, remember? I warrant his heirlings will be as jealous of the Stone as their ancestor was.

    1984, Carole Nelson Douglas, chapter 24, in Exiles of the Rynth, New York, N.Y.: Del Rey, →ISBN, page 246
    2 more examples

    Even so, the rule of the Frankish kings was not all catastrophe. Despite the blood-feuds of princes and heirlings, relative stability held good for most of the period, largely because the German border was quieter than it had been for centuries.

    2006, Andrew Hussey, “Sea Gods”, in Paris: The Secret History, New York, N.Y.: Bloomsbury USA, published 2007, →ISBN, part one (The Old Ocean, Prehistory to ad 987), page 29

    William was an artist but all he did was shoot heroin and smoke crack and sell it to the fallen sons and daughters of the aristocracy, the damaged little heirlings who break apart to punish mummy and daddy, […]

    2013, Chris Wilson, Horse Latitudes, [London?]: Sorika, →ISBN, page 110

Origin

Rhymes & wordplay

Anagrams

Cite this entry
APA

heirling. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/heirling

MLA

“heirling.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/heirling. Accessed November 3, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “heirling,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/heirling.

Source: heirling on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.