bequeath

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“
I give and bequeath--did thee put "give and bequeath," at th' beginning Nay,' said William, looking back.

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Definitions (11)

Toggle American Heritage definitions American Heritage Dictionary (2)

  1. transitive verb Law To leave or give (personal property) by will.
  2. transitive verb To pass (something) on to another; hand down: bequeathed to their children a respect for hard work.

Toggle Century definitions Century Dictionary (7)

Toggle GNU Webster definitions GNU Webster's 1913 (1)

Toggle WordNet definitions WordNet (1)

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Examples (50)

  • Apollo and the Muses do not yet intend me to become the prey of the bony Scytheman, as I have yet much to do for you, and much to bequeath which my spirit dictates, and calls on me to complete, before I depart hence for the Elysian fields; for I feel as if I had written scarcely more than a few notes of music. —  Beethoven's Letters 1790-1826
  • "I give and bequeath," ran the words of the document, "my place, called Myrtle Grove, on the west side of the Lake Otsego, to all my descendants in common until the year 1850; then to be inherited by the youngest thereof bearing my name." —  The Project Gutenberg eBook of James Fenimore Cooper by Thomas R. Lounsbury
  • "I give and bequeath," said the robber, "one thousand five hundred francs to St. George's Chapel, for such repairs as it may need; to my sweet girl, who so loyally loved me, I give two thousand five hundred; and the surplus I give to my companions. —  Memoirs of Extraordinary Popular Delusions and the Madness of Crowds
  • Secret! I have none: but, father, he who's gone Might have one; or, in short, he did bequeath No, not bequeath--but I bestow this sum For pious purposes Prior A proper deed In the behalf of our departed friends Sieg. —  The Works of Lord Byron. Vol. 5 Poetry
  • Kitty, known as "Little Miss Why," was always on the alert to bequeath the name to a successor. —  Blue Bonnet's Ranch Party
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This word has been looked up 165 times.

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Roget's II Roget's II: The New Thesaurus

Allen's Allen's Synonyms and Antonyms

Used in the same contextWord Family

bequeath:   bequeathed
Roget's II: The New Thesaurus, Third Edition by the Editors of the American Heritage® Dictionary. Copyright © 2003, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

Etymologies (3)

Toggle American Heritage etymologies American Heritage Dictionary (1)

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

Toggle Century etymologies Century Dictionary (2)

  1. from Middle English bequethen, biquethen, earlier bicwethen, from Anglo-Saxon becwethan, declare, affirm, give by will, from be- + cwethan, say. The simple verb became obsolete in the Middle English period, except in the preterit quoth, which remains archaically in an idiomatic construction (see quoth). The compound has been preserved through its technical use in wills.
  2. from bequeath, v.
 

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/bikˈkwið/
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