bequest

English

Etymology

From Middle English bequeste (“will, testament, bequest”), from be- + queste (“saying, utterance”), from Old English *cwist, *cwiss, 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 (“bequeath”). More at quoth, bequeath.

Noun

bequest (plural bequests)

1. The act of bequeathing or leaving by will.
2. The transfer of property upon the owner's death according to the will of the deceased.
3. That which is left by will; a legacy.
4. That which has been handed down or transmitted.
5. A person's inheritance; an amount of property given by will.

Translations

will of the deceased

• Bulgarian: завещание (bg) (zaveštanie)
• French: testament (fr) m
• Italian: lascito (it) m, testamento (it) m, volontà (it) f

• Norwegian: testament (no) n
• Portuguese: legado (pt) m
• Spanish: legado (es) m

a person's inheritance

• Bulgarian: наследство (bg) (nasledstvo) n
• Italian: eredità (it) f

• Norwegian: testamentarisk gave (no), legat (no) n
• Russian: наследство (ru) (naslédstvo) n

Synonyms

• legacy
• gift
• donation

Verb

bequest (third-person singular simple present bequests, present participle bequesting, simple past and past participle bequested)

1. (transitive) To give as a bequest; bequeath.