bequeath

English

Etymology

From Middle English biquethen, from Old English becweþan (“to say, to speak, to address, exhort, admonish, blame, bequeath, leave by will”), equivalent to be- +‎ quethe. Cognate with Old Frisian biquetha.

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /bɪˈkwiːθ/, /bɪˈkwiːð/

• Audio (Southern England)

  (file)

• Hyphenation: be‧queath
• Rhymes: -iːθ, -iːð

Verb

bequeath (third-person singular simple present bequeaths, present participle bequeathing, simple past bequeathed or (obsolete) bequoth, past participle bequeathed or (rare) bequethen or (obsolete) bequothen)

1. (law) To give or leave by will; to give by testament.
2. To hand down; to transmit.
   • 1964 May, “News and Comment: Minister hamstrings BR workshops”, in Modern Railways, page 291:

     Ownership of manufacturing workshops is not essential to that job; but BR happen to have been bequeathed a considerable number with a proud history.

3. To give; to offer; to commit.
   • 2006 March 26, Leslie Feinberg, “'Gay is good'”, in Workers World‎^[1]:

     These young gay men and lesbians were more militant and began to reject advice from the homophile movement to try to "fit into" society, not to make waves, and to rely on professionals and establishment figures to bequeath them social rights.

Usage notes

• (give or leave by will): The verb bequeath is usually used of personal property; for real property, the term devise is preferred (hence the phrase give, devise, and bequeath).

Related terms

• quethe
• quoth
• bequest

Translations

to give or leave by will

• Armenian: կտակել (hy) (ktakel)
• Azerbaijani: Miras buraxmaq, Miras qoymaq
• Belarusian: завяшча́ць impf or pf (zavjaščácʹ), адпі́сваць impf (adpísvacʹ), адпіса́ць pf (adpisácʹ), адка́зваць impf (adkázvacʹ), адказа́ць pf (adkazácʹ)
• Bulgarian: завеща́вам (bg) (zaveštávam)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 遺贈／遗赠 (zh) (yízèng)

• Dutch: nalaten (nl), overdragen (nl), legateren (nl)
• Finnish: testamentata (fi), jättää (fi) (+ optional perinnöksi)
• French: léguer (fr), transmettre (fr)
• Galician: mandar (gl), legar
• German: (something) hinterlassen (de), vererben (de), vermachen (de), aussetzen (de), übermachen, vergaben (de)
• Hungarian: hagyományoz (hu), örökül hagy (hu), ráhagy (hu)
• Icelandic: arfleiða
• Ido: legacar (io)
• Italian: legare (it), lasciare in eredità
• Japanese: 遺す (ja) (のこす, nokosu)
• Luxembourgish: verierwen, hannerloossen
• Maori: whakaheke, wira
• Middle English: biquethen
• Occitan: legar (oc)
• Old Frisian: biqathan
• Polish: zapisywać (pl) impf, zapisać (pl) pf
• Portuguese: legar (pt)
• Russian: завеща́ть (ru) impf or pf (zaveščátʹ)
• Serbo-Croatian: zaveštati (sh) pf
• Sicilian: dari (scn), dunari, lassari (scn)
• Spanish: heredar (es), legar (es), dejar (es), ceder (es)
• Swahili: -rithisha
• Swedish: testamentera (sv), efterlämna (sv), lämna i arv
• Turkish: mirasla bırakmak, vasiyetle bırakmak
• Ukrainian: завіща́ти impf or pf (zaviščáty), відпи́сувати impf (vidpýsuvaty), відписа́ти pf (vidpysáty), відка́зувати impf (vidkázuvaty), відказа́ти pf (vidkazáty)
• West Frisian: neilitte

to hand down; to transmit

• Dutch: doorgeven (nl), overleveren (nl)
• Finnish: luovuttaa (fi), jättää (fi) (+ optional perinnöksi), jättää jälkipolville
• French: transmettre (fr), passer (fr)
• German: (jemandem etwas) hinterlassen (de), vermachen (de), testamentarisch hinterlassen, übergeben (de), weiterreichen (de)
• Hungarian: hagyományoz (hu), örökül hagy (hu), ráhagy (hu)
• Italian: trasmettere (it), tramandare (it)
• Maori: whakaheke, waiho iho
• Middle English: biquethen
• Portuguese: legar (pt), transmitir (pt)
• Sicilian: passari (scn), tramannari, trasmèttiri
• Spanish: transmitir (es), conferir (es), pasar (es), legar (es)
• Turkish: vasiyet etmek (tr)

to give; to offer; to commit

• Dutch: aanbieden (nl)
• Finnish: luovuttaa (fi), jättää (fi)
• French: donner (fr), offrir (fr)
• German: überlassen (de), abgeben (de), anbieten (de), geben (de), anbieten (de), anvertrauen (de), übergeben (de)
• Italian: donare (it), offrire (it)
• Middle English: biquethen
• Sicilian: dunari, òffriri
• Spanish: dar (es), otorgar (es), confiar (es)