heirloom

/ˈeəluːm/ (bre, ipa) · [ˈɛrlˌum] /ˈerluːm/ (ame, ipa) · [ˈɛrlˌum] /ˈer-ˌlüm/ (ame, mw)

heirloom — noun

  • heirloomsingular
  • heirloomsplural

1. a treasured item — like jewellery, furniture, or a painting — that stays in a si

1.名詞B1
釋義

a treasured item — like jewellery, furniture, or a painting — that stays in a single family as older members give it to younger ones across generations, usually because of its sentimental or historical worth.

例句

The antique necklace has been an heirloom in the Watanabe family for over a century.

Sari's grandmother left her a wooden jewellery box as a family heirloom.

family heirloom — passed from older to younger generation

同義詞
  • inheritance

    broader — covers money, land, or any property received from someone who died, not necessarily a treasured family object

  • legacy

    wider in scope — can refer to non-material things like reputation or achievements, not just physical objects

  • antique

    focuses on age (over 100 years old) rather than family passage; an antique shop purchase is not an heirloom

文法句型

heirloom + verb + in + family

family + heirloom

用法筆記

Often paired with 'family' (family heirloom) to reinforce the idea of cross-generational passage. The object need not be financially valuable — sentimental worth is the key criterion.

常見錯誤

❌The gold ring was an inheritance from my grandmother.
✅The gold ring was a family heirloom from my grandmother.
💡'inheritance' can be any property received after a death; 'heirloom' specifically means a treasured object passed through generations.

2. a type of fruit, vegetable, flower, or seed that has been grown and saved by gar

2.名詞B2
釋義

a type of fruit, vegetable, flower, or seed that has been grown and saved by gardeners or farmers for many decades, keeping its original qualities instead of being replaced by modern hybrid versions.

例句

The market sells heirloom vegetables like purple carrots and striped beets.

heirloom + [vegetable] — old variety with specific examples

Camila bought heirloom seeds for her garden from a local market.

同義詞
  • heritage variety

    interchangeable with 'heirloom' before nouns ('heritage wheat', 'heritage apple'); slightly more common in British English

  • traditional variety

    broader — emphasises age and pre-industrial origin rather than specific open-pollinated lineage

反義詞
  • hybrid

    a modern cross-bred variety, often developed for uniform size or disease resistance rather than flavour

  • commercial variety

    bred for large-scale farming — uniform size, long shelf life, disease resistance

文法句型

heirloom + [plant/fruit/vegetable/seed]

[crop] + is an heirloom

heirloom variety/seeds/tomatoes

用法筆記

Heirloom varieties are typically open-pollinated and were developed before the rise of industrial agriculture. This sense appears most often in gardening, farming, and food-writing contexts. When placed before a noun — as in 'heirloom tomatoes' or 'heirloom seeds' — it functions as an attributive descriptor of the variety. Note that it cannot be used after a linking verb (❌ 'These tomatoes are heirloom').

常見錯誤

❌I bought heirloom seeds from the supermarket.
✅I bought heirloom seeds from the local seed swap.
💡True heirloom seeds are old, open-pollinated varieties, not the modern hybrid seeds typically sold in supermarkets.
❌This tomato is heirloom.
✅This is an heirloom tomato.
💡'Heirloom' in this sense must appear before the noun it describes, not after a linking verb.