legacy
Americannoun
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legacies
plural
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Law. a gift of property, especially personal property, such as money, by will; a bequest.
- Synonyms:
- inheritance
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anything handed down from the past, as from an ancestor or predecessor.
the legacy of ancient Rome.
- Synonyms:
- inheritance
-
an applicant to or student at the alma mater of their parent or parents.
As a legacy, he worried that professors would expect him to be less qualified than his peers.
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Obsolete. the office, function, or commission of a legate.
adjective
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of or relating to old or outdated computer hardware, software, or data that, while still functional, does not work well with up-to-date systems.
Legacy systems put you at greater risk of cyberattacks.
-
of or relating to an existing system, process, or state of affairs inherited from the past and typically a burden.
legacy pollutants;
a legacy drainage system.
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being or relating to a university applicant or student whose parent or other close relative attended the same school.
The admissions policies of most Ivy League schools favor legacy applicants.
noun
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a gift by will, esp of money or personal property
-
something handed down or received from an ancestor or predecessor
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(modifier) surviving computer systems, hardware, or software
legacy network
legacy application
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of legacy
First recorded in 1325–75; Middle English legacie “office of a deputy or legate,” from Medieval Latin lēgātia, from Latin lēgāt(us) “deputy” ( see legate) + -ia, noun suffix ( cf. -acy)
Explanation
Use the word, legacy, for something handed down from one generation to the next. A retiring company president might leave a legacy of honesty and integrity. Legacy comes from the Latin verb, legare "to appoint by a last will, send as an ambassador." Originally, the noun meant "ambassador" or "envoy" but soon shifted to mean the money and property a person leaves behind in his will. Many university scholarships are funded by the legacies of former students. In recent usage, political leaders are said to be concerned with their legacies, the historically significant achievements of their tenure in office.
Vocabulary lists containing legacy
Maniac Magee
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The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian
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Starting Your New Life: Inspiring Words from Commencement Speeches
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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:
So I bow down to her and her legacy and her memory.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 13, 2026
The filing noted that Parton “loved and cared for her family very deeply,” while accusing her nephew of threatening to damage her legacy and “inflict reputational and economic harm.”
From MarketWatch ● Oct. 12, 2026
Three generations on, Liverpool has bounced back from those dark days but the legacy of welfare lingers.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 12, 2026
"Damilola's legacy to me means being able to be unrealistic with your dreams," he said.
From BBC ● Oct. 11, 2026
"One thing, Sik. I asked you to do one thing for me. That garden was supposed to be my legacy...."
From "City of the Plague God" by Sarwat Chadda
“Not all 17 players who passed me were using performance enhancers—but some were. I take the conversation seriously, because it’s impacted my legacy and the legacies of many others.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 8, 2026
“What makes those decisions especially hard is that for so many, this isn’t just a business. These are family legacies built over generations.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 25, 2026
People who leave charities donations, legacies and bequests in their wills make noticeable differences to organisations, no matter what the amount is, sector leaders say.
From BBC ● Sep. 15, 2026
They have benefited from long defence and aerospace legacies, top-flight technical universities, a ready pool of talent and a supportive political climate, industry insiders say.
From Barron's ● Sep. 1, 2026
Some of Greenberg’s subfamilies, and some groupings recognized by more-traditional linguists, may turn out to be legacies of New World population expansions driven in part by food production.
From "Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies" by Jared M. Diamond
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.
