bequest

[bih-kwest]

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR bequest ON THESAURUS.COM

noun

a disposition in a will.

a legacy: A small bequest allowed her to live independently.

Origin of bequest

1250–1300; Middle English biqueste, biquyste, equivalent to bi- be- + quiste will, bequest, Old English -cwis(se) (with excrescent t, as in behest), noun derivative of cwethan to say; on the model of bequethen bequeath

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Related Words for bequest

endowment, inheritance, settlement, legacy, estate, gift, devise, dower, bestowal, heritage, trust, devisal, bequeathal, bequeathment

Examples from the Web for bequest

Contemporary Examples of bequest

Muth called police to say she died from a fall, and told her family he was owed a bequest of $250,000.
Georgetown Socialite Viola Drath Killed by Assassin, Husband Claims
Sandra McElwaine
November 19, 2011
The bequest to Tolson was the final word on the closeness of their relationship.
Hoover’s Secret Files
Ronald Kessler
August 2, 2011

Historical Examples of bequest

The founding or endowing of universities and public libraries by gift or bequest.
The Devil's Dictionary
Ambrose Bierce
Of Vogelwied, the Minnesinger, and his bequest to the birds.
The Works of Whittier, Volume VII (of VII)
John Greenleaf Whittier
They might enforce on them a total abolition of inheritance and bequest.'
Old-Fashioned Ethics and Common-Sense Metaphysics
William Thomas Thornton
One of the stories he had finished was "The $30,000 Bequest."
Mark Twain, A Biography, 1835-1910, Complete
Albert Bigelow Paine
And knowing of this bequest, sir, I thought I'd bring the book down.
The Borough Treasurer
Joseph Smith Fletcher

British Dictionary definitions for bequest

bequest

noun

the act of bequeathing
something that is bequeathed

law a gift of property by will, esp personal propertyCompare devise (def. 4), devise (def. 5)

Word Origin for bequest

C14: be- + Old English -cwiss degree; see bequeath

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for bequest

c.1300, "act of bequeathing," from be- + *cwis, *cwiss "saying" (related to quoth; from Proto-Germanic *kwessiz; cf. bequeath), with excrescent -t. Meaning "that which is bequeathed" is recorded from late 15c.