Legal Dictionary of Pakistan

heirloom.

1. An item of personal property that by local custom, contrary to the usual legal rule, descends to the heir along with the inheritance, instead of passing to the executor or administrator of the last owner; traditional examples are an ancestor's coat of armor, family portraits, title deeds, and keys. ( Blackstone gave a false etymology that many have copied: "The termination, loom, is of Saxon origin; in which language it signifies a limb or member; so that an heirloom is nothing else, but a limb or member of the inheritance." 2 William Blackstone, Commentaries on the Law of England 427 (1766). In fact, loom derives from Old English geloma "utensil," and loom meant "implement, tool." 2. Popularly, a valued possession of great sentimental value passed down through generations within a family.