bequest

Meaning

Noun

1. The act of bequeathing or leaving by will.
2. The transfer of property upon the owner's death according to the will of the deceased.
3. That which is left by will; a legacy.
4. That which has been handed down or transmitted.
5. A person's inheritance; an amount of property given by will.

Verb

To give as a bequest; bequeath.

Synonyms

legacy

inheritance

heritage

patrimony

endowment

estate

hereditament

legacies

relic

residue

testament

property left at death

causa mortis

decedents’estates

ancestry

causa donatio

demise

donate

grant

hangover

heirloom

Translations

héritage

lascito

legado

Vermächtnis

herencia

legs

eredità

κληροδότημα

Nachlass

legato

herança

Erbe

patrimoine

llegat

Pronounced as (IPA)

/bɪˈkwɛst/

Etymology

Inherited from Middle English: biqueste

Cognate with Old English: andcwiss

Cognate with Old English: uncwisse

Cognate with Middle English: bequethen

Inherited from Middle English: biquesten

In summary

From Middle English biqueste, bequeste (“will, testament, bequest”), from be + -quiste, queste (“saying, utterance, testament, will, legacy”), from Old English *cwist, *cwiss (“saying”) (compare Old English andcwiss, ġecwis, uncwisse, etc.), 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 (“to bequeath”). More at quoth, bequeath.