heirloom

[ air-loom ]

/ ˈɛərˌlum /

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.

noting or relating to an old plant variety that is being cultivated again: heirloom vegetables and fruits. Compare heritage(def 6).

Origin of heirloom

First recorded in 1375–1425, heirloom is from the late Middle English word heirlome. See heir, loom¹

Walking through rows of Swiss chard, heirloom tomatoes, leeks, and artichokes, he can tell you exactly when each is at its peak.

A California Tavern With an Artichoke Obsession |Jane & Michael Stern |June 1, 2014 |DAILY BEAST
They had to infect the perfectly adequate data with the totally improbable idea of a 400-year-old heirloom elk antler tool.

Incontrovertible Evidence Proves the First Americans Came From Asia |Doug Peacock |March 27, 2014 |DAILY BEAST
And then heirloom varieties tend to be more nutritious—and delicious—than modern, overbred varieties.

This Book Will Change the Way You Eat |Lucas Wittmann |December 19, 2013 |DAILY BEAST
Unfortunately, most heirloom apple trees have long since been ripped out of the ground.

What the Pilgrims Drank on Thanksgiving |Jordan Salcito |November 28, 2013 |DAILY BEAST

The jewelry—rock crystals inset in silver—was bold but not ostentatious thanks to its antique finish and heirloom quality.

Milan Fall Fashion Week 2012: Raf Simons’s Last Collection at Jil Sander |Robin Givhan |February 25, 2012 |DAILY BEAST
Many think that any chattel may be made an heirloom by any owner of it.

The Eustace Diamonds |Anthony Trollope
She said they were an heirloom from her mother, who had brought the stones from India and had them linked together in England.

Johnny Ludlow. First Series |Mrs. Henry Wood
If the diamonds formed part of an heirloom,—and there is evidence that it is so,—you must give them up.

The Eustace Diamonds |Anthony Trollope
An heirloom in the strict sense is made by family custom, not by settlement.

Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 13, Slice 2 |Various
The Boer carefully weighed them out with some scales of his own that were evidently an heirloom.

South Africa and the Transvaal War, Vol. 1 (of 6) |Louis Creswicke

heirloom

/ (ˈɛəˌluːm) /

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

C15: from heir + lome tool; see loom 1