bequest

[bih-kwest]

noun

1. a disposition in a will.

2. a legacy.

   A small bequest allowed her to live independently.

bequest

/ bɪˈkwɛst /

noun

1. 1. the act of bequeathing

   2. something that is bequeathed

2. law a gift of property by will, esp personal property Compare devise devise

Word History and Origins

Origin of bequest¹

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

Word History and Origins

Origin of bequest¹

C14: _be- + Old English -cwiss degree; see _bequeath

Example Sentences

British scientist James Smithson’s bequest was intended to support “the increase and diffusion of knowledge.”

From Salon

The case landed in the Court of Chancery - where Elizabeth argued her late husband had no power to grant Shakespeare's home and mentioned her grandfather's bequest to her mother.

From BBC

The left-field bequest — as if tending to Walter’s legacy with an overdue book of his correspondence wasn’t enough — is, to Iris, a mystery on top of a conundrum.

From Los Angeles Times

But because there were three entities all bearing the Boerelegioen name, the court found that Mr Gray's bequest made was "vague concerning which entity was the intended beneficiary" of his will.

From BBC

But for the Orlando Museum of Art, which recently received a $1.8 million bequest from the estate of Margaret Young, that gift couldn’t have come at a better time.

From New York Times

Related Words

• endowment 
• inheritance