Bequest Definition

bĭ-kwĕst
bequests
noun
bequests
The act of giving or leaving personal property by a will.
American Heritage
The act of bequeathing.
Webster's New World
Something that is bequeathed; a legacy.
American Heritage
Anything bequeathed.
Webster's New World

A gift of personal property (usually other than money) by means of a will. Also, any personal property given by means of a will. See also devise and legacy.

Webster's New World Law
verb
To give as a bequest; bequeath.
Wiktionary

Other Word Forms of Bequest

Noun

Singular:
bequest
Plural:
bequests

Origin of Bequest

  • 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.

    From Wiktionary

  • Middle English biquest (influenced by biquethen to bequeath) bi- be- quist will (from Old English -cwis) (as in andcwis answer gwet- in Indo-European roots)

    From American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition

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