Hypertext Webster Gateway: "heirloom"
From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) (web1913)
Heirloom \Heir"loom`\, n. [Heir + loom, in its earlier sense of
implement, tool. See {Loom} the frame.]
Any furniture, movable, or personal chattel, which by law or
special custom descends to the heir along with the
inheritance; any piece of personal property that has been in
a family for several generations.
Woe to him whose daring hand profanes The honored
heirlooms of his ancestors. --Moir.
From WordNet (r) 1.7 (wn)
heirloom
n 1: (law) any property that is considered by law or custom as
inseparable from an inheritance is inherited with that
inheritance
2: something that has been in a family for generations
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