family heirloom
19
4.7
- noun
- /ˈfæmɪli ˈɛrˌlum/
:
reliquia familiar
- It's a priceless family heirloom.
- precious family heirloom
- priceless family heirloom
- valuable family heirloom
Or holding on to certain family heirlooms and passing them down.
- Or holding on to certain family heirlooms and passing them down.
- Bows, Sabres and lances were often passed down as family heirlooms.
- You destroyed her one family heirloom because you were too lazy or broke to go buy a diamond yourself.
- The apartment's most attractive feature was it's white marble Mantel and hearth where the Moors displayed their family heirlooms.
Examples
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Yeah, this is a family heirloom.
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That's a family heirloom, and it should stay in your family.
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Now, this is a family heirloom.
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It's your first family heirloom.
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That was a precious family heirloom.
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You need to pre-pack all the personal items, photographs, and family heirlooms.
Blog text (4) -
Terri's images will likely be passed on to Bemnet much like a family heirloom is passed down through the generations.
Academic text (2009) -
Maybe when I was six, that would have been good enough, but I want to make one that will last and be a family heirloom, like the quilt Grandma made for me.
Fiction book (1999) -
The furniture in the room, the chairs, the sofa, and the tables were old, hand-crafted family heirlooms, she thought.
Fiction book (1993) -
My grandmother passed down her wedding ring, a cherished family heirloom that has been in our family for generations.
Synonyms
92
5.3
A thing from the past kept because it is important or valuable
54
7.0
A valuable object kept in a family and given from parents to children for many generations
How Valuable
Surface Forms
Morphology
The meaning is directly compositional: 'heirloom' already denotes a valuable item inherited across generations and 'family' specifies the social group, so a B1 learner who knows both words will infer an item passed down within a family. This noun–noun modification is a common, cross-linguistic pattern in English and is therefore fully transparent.
Etymology
Family heirloom creates a simple picture: a special object, like a ring or photo, handed from grandparent to parent to child over many years. The word heirloom names something kept for an 'heir', so family heirloom means an item 'passed down' through the family's 'generations'.