bequeathed
Americanadjective
-
(of personal property or money) disposed of by a person’s final will.
The college has received a bequeathed gift of $1 million from one of its alumni.
-
handed down or passed on.
The more conservative council members see traditional values as the bequeathed virtues of a preferred past.
verb
Other Word Forms
- unbequeathed adjective
Etymology
Origin of bequeathed
First recorded in 1615–25; bequeath ( def. ) + -ed 2 ( def. ) for the adjective senses; bequeath ( def. ) + -ed 1 ( def. ) for the verb sense
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
He points out in a note that profit growth of 1% relative to the average of the prior two quarters was lower than the 1.7% benefit bequeathed by the period’s 1.5 extra days.
From The Wall Street Journal • Nov. 12, 2025
“We maintain ourselves in existence,” he says, “through a style bequeathed to us by our Rilkean memories.”
From The Wall Street Journal • Oct. 17, 2025
“Hey, supervisor!” — as he strode past Town Hall to Imagination Park, a gift the city’s most famous resident, filmmaker George Lucas, bequeathed along with life-sized statues of Yoda and Indiana Jones.
From Los Angeles Times • Jun. 5, 2025
The sculptor had donated it to a Save the Children charity auction in 1963, where it was bought by the former governor who later bequeathed it to Bryanston School.
From BBC • Jan. 16, 2025
Hastings passed both speed and malevolence down to his son Fair Play, who in turn bequeathed it to his incomparable son, Man o’ War.
From "Seabiscuit: An American Legend" by Laura Hillenbrand
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
