bequeath
Americanverb (used with object)
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bequeaths,
present (3rd person singular)
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bequeathed,
past participle, past
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bequeathing
present participle
verb
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law to dispose of (property, esp personal property) by will Compare devise
-
to hand down; pass on, as to following generations
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
bequeathsimple
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bequeathssimple
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have bequeathedperfect
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has bequeathedperfect
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am bequeathingprogressive
-
are bequeathingprogressive
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is bequeathingprogressive
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have been bequeathingperfect progressive
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has been bequeathingperfect progressive
Past
-
bequeathedsimple
-
had bequeathedperfect
-
was bequeathingprogressive
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were bequeathingprogressive
-
had been bequeathingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of bequeath
First recorded before 1000; Middle English bequethen, Old English becwethan ( be- be- + cwethan “to say” ( see quoth), cognate with Old High German quedan, Gothic qithan )
Explanation
To bequeath is to leave your possessions to another person after you die. A man might love his classic cars but would be happy to bequeath them to his grandchildren when he writes out his last will and testament. Bequeath often is used about making plans to give away property and possessions after a person's death, like the pearl necklace that your great-grandmother bequeathed to you or a house that your uncle bequeathed to a his favorite charity. Sometimes bequeath is used for things handed down without death, as when living parents and grandparents pass, or bequeath, a legacy of stories or family traits and talents as an inheritance.
Vocabulary lists containing bequeath
The Vocabulary.com Top 1000
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100 SAT Words Beginning with "B"
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Grade 11, List 3
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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.
See Examples For:
Why do voters and MPs bequeath and remove their support with seemingly such casual ease?
From BBC ● May 16, 2026
If you bequeath a Roth, heirs’ withdrawals are tax-free.
From Barron's ● Mar. 5, 2026
And yet you can’t bequeath to your children a crust of bread.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 7, 2025
If your friend has a valuable piece of jewelry she may wish to bequeath those to a sister or aunt or niece.
From MarketWatch ● Nov. 3, 2025
I bequeath myself to the dirt to grow from the grass I love, If you want me again look for me under your bootsoles.
From "Paper Towns" by John Green
The passage of great TV characters bequeaths to their survivors, including the audience, a rummage of questions that end up shaping their journey.
From Salon ● Apr. 21, 2025
He appointed more than 140 cardinals from non-European countries and bequeaths his successor a Church that is far more global in outlook than the one he inherited.
From BBC ● Apr. 21, 2025
“Her voice was as sweet as her engagements were fiery. She bequeaths us tunes and images that will never leave us.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 16, 2023
The loss of Jonathan Demme is a sad surprise, for the films that he bequeaths to us remain, to an uncommon degree, the work of a good man.
From The New Yorker ● Apr. 29, 2017
She bequeaths her stuffed toys to Gloria’s fourteen-year- old daughter.
From "Enrique's Journey" by Sonia Nazario
And since houses can be bequeathed tax-free, having a valuable property can help homeowners who want to leave something to the next generation.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 25, 2026
Yet feats of demography are only part of what “Revolver” bequeathed.
From Salon ● Aug. 5, 2026
Decades of American colonial rule bequeathed the nation with a passion for basketball.
From BBC ● Jul. 25, 2026
Gehry bequeathed blueprints and models, sketches and concepts, for his large and devoted team of younger architects and next-generation visionaries equipped to fabricate our way out of angst.
From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 20, 2026
Handel, though, not only represented a musical amalgam of European styles during his lifetime; he also bequeathed to the next generation of composers a non-parochial, universal idiom that was venerated and built upon.
From "The Story of Music" by Howard Goodall
Museums have for a long time relied on wealthy individuals bequeathing, loaning or donating artefacts to build their science and art collections, explains Dr Smithwick, who recovers and sells fossils professionally.
From BBC ● Jul. 11, 2026
Hassan got further scope to exercise his instincts after Hafez al-Assad died in 2000, bequeathing power to his second son, Bashar, a British-educated eye surgeon.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Dec. 12, 2025
He played the role of mediator, bequeathing legitimacy to a group which seemingly needed his normalcy.
From Salon ● Sep. 22, 2024
Longtime Dodgers fans will cringe at the bequeathing of so much power to one player, but this is how it works in Tinseltown.
From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 14, 2024
Robbie, my great-aunt, my rigid taskmaster of a piano teacher, passed away in June, bequeathing her house on Euclid to my parents, allowing them to become home owners for the first time.
From "Becoming" by Michelle Obama
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.
