noun
- a family possession handed down from generation to generation.
- Law. property neither personal nor real that descends to the heir of an estate as part of the real property.
adjective
- noting or relating to an old plant variety that is being cultivated again: heirloom vegetables and fruits.Compare heritage(def 6).
noun
- an object that has been in a family for generations
- property law a chattel inherited by special custom or in accordance with the terms of a will
early 15c., ayre lome, a hybrid from heir + loom in its original but now otherwise obsolete sense of “implement, tool.” Technically, some piece of property that by will or custom passes down with the real estate.