bequest
English edit
Etymology 1 edit
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.
Pronunciation edit
Noun edit
bequest (plural bequests)
- The act of bequeathing or leaving by will.
- The transfer of property upon the owner's death according to the will of the deceased.
- That which is left by will; a legacy.
- That which has been handed down or transmitted.
- 1846, Nathaniel Hawthorne, “The New Adam and Eve”, in Mosses from an Old Manse:
- Yet some odor of religion is still lingering here, the bequest of pious souls, who had grace to enjoy a foretaste of immortal life.
- A person's inheritance; an amount of property given by will.
Synonyms edit
Translations edit
will of the deceased
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a person's inheritance
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Etymology 2 edit
From Middle English biquesten, from the noun (see above).
Verb edit
bequest (third-person singular simple present bequests, present participle bequesting, simple past and past participle bequested)
- (transitive) To give as a bequest; bequeath.
Translations edit
give as a bequest
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