heiress
noun/ɛəˈɹɛs/
Etymology From heir + -ess.
1
A woman who has a right of inheritance or who stands to inherit.
- "Do you know, Julia, that Charles has taken some wild-goose fancy into his head about marrying?" "Why, what heiress have you picked up?" asked his sister. "I am sure that I am very glad of it, though I cannot form a guess who it is. I never knew a season so unprofitable in that respect as the present."1838 (date written), L[etitia] E[lizabeth] L[andon], chapter IX, in Lady Anne Granard; or, Keeping up Appearances. […], volume I, London: Henry Colburn, […], published 1842, →OCLC, page 120:
2
A woman who has received an inheritance.
- Derived terms
- coheiress, heiress apparent, heiressdom, heiresshood, heiress presumptive, millionheiress