noun
issue
A person's offspring or descendants, especially in legal usage.
The will leaves the estate to her surviving issue.
Etymology
Issue originally concerned coming out or proceeding from a source. Descendants are the people who proceed from a parent or ancestor, giving the word its legal family sense.
More examples
- The old record states that he died without issue.
- The clause refers to the issue of the deceased.
- They disputed whether the adopted child counted as issue under the document.
Forms
issue
Similar words
- descendants
- People in later generations of a family.
- offspring
- Someone's children or young, often considered collectively.