Definitions
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
- n. A descendant or heir.
- n. A detached shoot or twig containing buds from a woody plant, used in grafting.
Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
- n. A shoot or twig, especially one cut for the purpose of being grafted upon some other tree, or for planting.
- n. Hence A descendant.
Wiktionary
- n. A descendant, especially a first-generation descendant.
- n. A detached shoot or twig containing buds from a woody plant, used in grafting.
- n. The heir to a throne.
- n. guardian
GNU Webster's 1913
- n. A shoot or sprout of a plant; a sucker.
- n. A piece of a slender branch or twig cut for grafting.
- n. Hence, a descendant; an heir.
WordNet 3.0
- n. a descendent or heir
Etymologies
- Middle English, from Old French cion, possibly of Germanic origin.
Examples
“The smugness is reinforced not just by his history as the entitled scion of one of America's aristocratic dynasties, but also by his conviction that his every action is blessed from on high.”
“The smugness is reinforced not just by his history as the entitled scion of one of America's aristocratic dynasties but also by his conviction that his every action is blessed from on high.”
“The smugness is reinforced not just by his history as the entitled scion of one of America's aristocratic dynasties but also by his conviction that his every action is blessed from on high. what he has learned from his time in office, he replied: "I've learned that God is good.”
“The scion is the piece used as the top, fruit-producing part of the new plant.”
“This method works much better than paper bags, as they are easily water-soaked and the wind blows them against the scion, which is easily loosened and therefore fails to start.”
“Wood of the last season's growth is procured from the variety which it is desired to propagate and the lower end of the scion, which is made about 4 inches long, is whittled to a wedge shape, after which it is inserted in the slit made upon the stock.”
“The condition of the scion is the most important element for success in top-working hickory trees.”
“A graft or scion, which is a shoot with two or more buds on it of last year's growth, is inserted on the stem of another plant called the stock.”
“Dolores had hoped to confide her alarms to Constance's sympathetic ear, but her friend, who had written and dreamt of many a magnificently titled scion of the peerage, but had never before seen one in her own house, had not a minute to spare for her, being far too much engrossed in observing the habits of the animal.”
“While Mr. Cuomo's job approval ratings as attorney general are strong, he still appears to be best known as the scion of a political dynasty.”
Lists
These user-created lists contain the word ‘scion’.
-
UK Usage - Find US Equivalent
All these terms have a (different) American English equivalent. Wonder if you can identify them?
abridgement (abri..., accoutrement, accoutre, acknowledgement (..., opposite, advert, adaptor, adapter, sticking plaster, advertise, adviser (advisor ..., adze, aesthete and 1196 more...
-
GRE Barrons Wordlist
A complete Barron's Wordlist for GRE preparation. Your online flashcard replacement.
abase, abash, abate, abbreviate, abdicate, aberrant, aberration, abet, abeyance, abhor, abject, abjure and 4084 more...
-
Brand Theft Auto
A marque list for cars--models or companies who've used common words as their name.
explorer, navigator, frontier, mustang, quest, cougar, sidekick, legend, legacy, ranger, voyager, civic and 266 more...
-
Kangaroo Words
Words containing letters in sequence, together or apart, that form a definition or instance of the subsuming word. E.g., conTAmINaTe = the kangaroo word. TAINT = the joey. Theme from a NYT X-word ...
encourage, chariot, precipitation, neurotic, feaster, unsightly, charisma, inheritor, masculine, honorable, contaminate, regulate and 103 more...
-
Hence
Words with definitions that have a "hence" in them.
hanger, Deet, tripe, spindlelegs, fiddle, store, pluck, snap, villain, link, comedy, particular and 376 more...
-
cicatrix
scar tissue
minatory, naira, Cluniac, embracive, prolix, hierophant, timorous, adduce, veracious, dysphoric, sang-froid, vitiate and 414 more...
-
tatterdemalion's list
chrysalis, colloquy, peroration, syncretism, dickering, gamelan, dictatress, adventurism, untenable, presumption of fa..., lovelorn, bawdily and 47 more...
-
Grafting, &c.
I'm specifically looking for terms from "old arboriculture," but it's an open list.
graft, grafting, arboriculture, scion, approaching, inarching, inarch, imp, shoot, adultery, arborist, ingraft and 52 more...
-
Useful fantasy list
scion, chrysalis, adamantine, effulgent, gallimaufry, polliwog, viridian, blunderbuss, aether
oroboros SciON Apr 26, 2008
bilby "I frequently pluck wild apples of so rich and spicy a flavor that I wonder all orchardists do not get a scion from that tree, and I fail not to bring home my pockets full. But perchance, when I take one out of my desk and taste it in my chamber I find it unexpectedly crude,--sour enough to set a squirrel's teeth on edge and make a jay scream." - 'Wild Apples', Henry David Thoreau. Dec 14, 2007
uselessness Busted. Oct 10, 2007
jennarenn Possibly. Were you one of those skinny boys who glowed white? ;) Oct 10, 2007
reesetee I first heard it in some church service or another. Oct 9, 2007
uselessness I first heard this word in the original Tomb Raider game. Should I be ashamed to admit that? Oct 9, 2007
reesetee Sometimes the wrong pronunciation just sounds better, though. :-) Oct 9, 2007
seanahan I always pronounced this wrong when reading "The Scions of Shannara", until I said it out loud and my father laughed at me. Oct 9, 2007