Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun Law The act of giving or leaving personal property by a will.
  • noun Something that is bequeathed; a legacy.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • To give as a bequest; bequeath.
  • noun The act of bequeathing or leaving by will.
  • noun That which is left by will; a legacy.
  • noun That which is or has been handed down or transmitted.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • transitive verb obsolete To bequeath, or leave as a legacy.
  • noun The act of bequeathing or leaving by will.
  • noun That which is left by will, esp. personal property; a legacy; also, a gift.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun The act of bequeathing or leaving by will.
  • noun The transfer of property upon the owner's death according to the will of the deceased.
  • noun That which is left by will; a legacy.
  • noun That which has been handed down or transmitted.
  • noun A person's inheritance; an amount of property given by will.
  • verb transitive To give as a bequest; bequeath.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • noun (law) a gift of personal property by will

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[Middle English biquest (influenced by biquethen, to bequeath) : bi-, be- + quist, will (from Old English -cwis, as in andcwis, answer; see gwet- in Indo-European roots).]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From Middle English bequeste ("will, testament, bequest"), from be- + queste ("saying, utterance"), from Old English *cwist, *cwiss, from Proto-Germanic *kwissiz (“saying”), from Proto-Indo-European *gʷet- (“to say”). Related to Old English andcwiss ("answer, reply"), Old English uncwisse ("dumb, mute"), Middle English bequethen ("bequeath"). More at quoth, bequeath.

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Examples

  • Looking at my own situation, if I die early and leave a large bequest "by mistake," that will come when my children still need it, whereas if I live longer and the bequest is diminished, that will be after my children have had time to establish themselves.

    Defending Social Security, Arnold Kling | EconLog | Library of Economics and Liberty 2009

  • In 1936, a bequest from the estates of Maud Walker-Ames and Edwin Gardner Ames established a fund that the university uses to

    Sound Politics: Walker-Ames and Danz Lectures At The UW 2007

  • Joseph Henry stated in his first annual report in 1847 in considering the role of the Institution in formally accepting the bequest of James Smithson: The bequest is for the benefit of mankind.

    Boing Boing: April 16, 2006 - April 22, 2006 Archives 2006

  • Procopius, who, alleging as his title a bequest of the Emperor

    The Catholic Encyclopedia, Volume 15: Tournely-Zwirner 1840-1916 1913

  • Library, London, was established by a bequest from the dissenting minister,

    Letter 279 1797

  • Highlights also include the famous 1906 portrait of Gertrude Stein, which was a bequest from the American writer in 1946 and the Met's first Picasso acquisition.

    daytondailynews.com - News ULA ILNYTZKY 2010

  • Highlights also include the famous 1906 portrait of Gertrude Stein, which was a bequest from the American writer in 1946 and the Met's first Picasso acquisition.

    phillyBurbs.com: Home RSS feed 2010

  • Highlights also include the famous 1906 portrait of Gertrude Stein, which was a bequest from the American writer in 1946 and the Met's first Picasso acquisition.

    phillyBurbs.com: Home RSS feed 2010

  • Highlights also include the famous 1906 portrait of Gertrude Stein, which was a bequest from the American writer in 1946 and the Met's first Picasso acquisition.

    Brandon Sun Online - Top Stories 2010

  • Highlights also include the famous 1906 portrait of Gertrude Stein, which was a bequest from the American writer in 1946 and the Met's first Picasso acquisition.

    Fore, right! ULA ILNYTZKY 2010

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