heir apparent : Dictionary / Wörterbuch (BEOLINGUS, TU Chemnitz)

English Dictionary: heir apparent	by the DICT Development Group
3 results for heir apparent
From WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006) [wn]:
heir apparent n an heir whose right to an inheritance cannot be defeated if that person outlives the ancestor Antonym(s): heir presumptive
From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) [web1913]:
Apparent \Ap*par"ent\, a. [F. apparent, L. apparens, -entis, p. pr. of apparere. See {Appear}.] 1. Capable of being seen, or easily seen; open to view; visible to the eye; within sight or view. The moon . . . apparent queen. --Milton. 2. Clear or manifest to the understanding; plain; evident; obvious; known; palpable; indubitable. It is apparent foul play. --Shak. 3. Appearing to the eye or mind (distinguished from, but not necessarily opposed to, true or real); seeming; as the apparent motion or diameter of the sun. To live on terms of civility, and even of apparent friendship. --Macaulay. What Berkeley calls visible magnitude was by astronomers called apparent magnitude. --Reid. {Apparent horizon}, the circle which in a level plain bounds our view, and is formed by the apparent meeting of the earth and heavens, as distinguished from the rational horizon. {Apparent time}. See {Time}. {Heir apparent} (Law), one whose to an estate is indefeasible if he survives the ancestor; -- in distinction from presumptive heir. See {Presumptive}. Syn: Visible; distinct; plain; obvious; clear; certain; evident; manifest; indubitable; notorious.
From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) [web1913]:
Heir \Heir\, n. [OE. heir, eir, hair, OF. heir, eir, F. hoir, L. heres; of uncertain origin. Cf. {Hereditary}, {Heritage}.] 1. One who inherits, or is entitled to succeed to the possession of, any property after the death of its owner; one on whom the law bestows the title or property of another at the death of the latter. I am my father's heir and only son. --Shak. 2. One who receives any endowment from an ancestor or relation; as, the heir of one's reputation or virtues. And I his heir in misery alone. --Pope. {Heir apparent}. (Law.) See under {Apparent}. {Heir at law}, one who, after his ancector's death, has a right to inherit all his intestate estate. --Wharton (Law Dict.). {Heir presumptive}, one who, if the ancestor should die immediately, would be his heir, but whose right to the inheritance may be defeated by the birth of a nearer relative, or by some other contingency.