Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • transitive verb Law To leave or give (personal property) by will.
  • transitive verb To pass (something) on to another; hand down.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun A bequest.
  • . To give away; transfer the possession of; assign as a gift.
  • To give or leave by will; assign as a legacy: more commonly, but not necessarily, used of personal property, in contradistinction to real property, which is said to be devised.
  • To hand down; transmit.
  • To commit; commend; intrust.
  • To give or yield; furnish; impart.
  • Reflexively, to commit; dedicate; devote.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • transitive verb To give or leave by will; to give by testament; -- said especially of personal property.
  • transitive verb To hand down; to transmit.
  • transitive verb obsolete To give; to offer; to commit.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • verb law To give or leave by will; to give by testament.
  • verb To hand down; to transmit.
  • verb To give; to offer; to commit.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • verb leave or give by will after one's death

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[Middle English biquethen, from Old English becwethan : be-, be- + cwethan, to say; see gwet- in Indo-European roots.]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From Middle English bequethen, from Old English becweþan ("to say, to speak to, address, exhort, admonish, blame, bequeath, leave by will"), equivalent to be- +‎ quethe.

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Examples

  • And lastly, (for there is no end of enumerating every particular of his glory,) with one word bequeath all this power and splendor to his posterity?

    The History of England in Three Volumes, Vol.I., Part E. From Charles I. to Cromwell David Hume 1743

  • A loophole in the rules allows council house tenants to "bequeath" their tenancies when they die.

    Telegraph.co.uk - Telegraph online, Daily Telegraph and Sunday Telegraph 2010

  • The dictionary meaning of "bequeath": 1) to leave (property, etc.) to another by one's will; 2) to hand down, to pass on.

    Museum Blogs 2010

  • It should be because we want to live up to the example of public servants like John Roll and Gabby Giffords, who knew first and foremost that we are all Americans, and that we can question each other's ideas without questioning each other's love of country, and that our task, working together, is to constantly widen the circle of our concern so that we bequeath the American dream to future generations.

    Obama saves Tucson memorial from the unseemly Stephen Stromberg 2011

  • If you're passing the house down to one person, you typically can give it to him or her outright as a gift while you are still alive or bequeath it in your will.

    Create a Plan to Pass On the Family Cottage Rachel Louise Ensign 2011

  • I have seen many men strip, in gymnasium and training quarters, men of good blood and upbringing, but I have never seen one who stripped to better advantage than this young sot of two-and-twenty, this young god doomed to rack and ruin in four or five short years, and to pass hence without posterity to receive the splendid heritage it was his to bequeath.

    A MAN AND THE ABYSS 2010

  • "Flexibility is nothing to bequeath," he mutters into his armpit more escape from trunk

    Of Midwest Contortionists In Extremis Dennis Mahagin 2012

  • It should be because we want to live up to the example of public servants like John Roll and Gabby Giffords, who knew first and foremost that we are all Americans, and that we can question each other's ideas without questioning each other's love of country, and that our task, working together, is to constantly widen the circle of our concern so that we bequeath the American dream to future generations.

    Heroes, humility and healing in Tucson Jonathan Capehart 2011

  • In fact they are many of you, your children, your grandchildren and the legacy we bequeath must not be defeat and denial but glory and the celebration of their genius and ingenuity.

    Rick Tumlinson: Apollo's Children and the NewSpace Revolution Rick Tumlinson 2011

  • In fact they are many of you, your children, your grandchildren and the legacy we bequeath must not be defeat and denial but glory and the celebration of their genius and ingenuity.

    Rick Tumlinson: Apollo's Children and the NewSpace Revolution Rick Tumlinson 2011

Comments

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  • bequeath to later generations

    January 26, 2011