Definitions
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
- n. Money or property bequeathed to another by will.
- n. Something handed down from an ancestor or a predecessor or from the past: a legacy of religious freedom. See Synonyms at heritage.
Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
- n. Money or other property left by will; a bequest; specifically, a gift of personalty by will as distinguished from a devise or gift of realty.
- n. Anything bequeathed or handed down by an ancestor or a predecessor.
- n. A business which one has received from another to execute; a commission; an errand.
- n. Legation; embassy.
- To bequeath; assign as a legacy.
- To leave a legacy to.
Wiktionary
- n. money or property bequeathed to someone in a will
- n. Something inherited from a predecessor; a heritage
- n. The descendant of an alumnus
- adj. of a computer system that has been in service for many years and that a business still relies upon, even though it is becoming expensive or difficult to maintain
- adj. left behind; old or no longer in active use
GNU Webster's 1913
- n. A gift of property by will, esp. of money or personal property; a bequest. Also Fig..
- n. A business with which one is intrusted by another; a commission; -- obsolete, except in the phrases
last legacy ,dying legacy , and the like.
WordNet 3.0
- n. (law) a gift of personal property by will
Etymologies
- Middle English legacie, office of a deputy, from Old French, from Medieval Latin lēgātia, from Latin lēgātus, past participle of lēgāre, to depute, bequeath; see leg- in Indo-European roots.
Examples
“Sabre, back from college after being enrolled in the study-abroad program, is upset his title legacy has been tarnished by a woman.”
“How can the term legacy be used for a man who supported the murder of 49 million babies since”
“BP also said it would separately pay Bridas Corp. $700 million to settle claims between the two companies and to terminate what it called legacy restrictive covenants among BP, Pan American Energy and Bridas Corp. These allowed Pan American Energy to participate in any of BP's activities in the southernmost areas of South America.”
The Wall Street Journal: BP Says It Didn't Need to Sell Asset in Argentine Deal
“Either way, the legacy is a troubling one: he was, in one reading, willing to sell (or at least lease) his faith for political porridge, or he really believed his private beliefs could be quarantined from his political actions (Mario Cuomo, anyone?).”
“We probably won't hear much from him for the next five years, but his legacy is there.”
Thorne: Kent's bristly personality can't erase Hall of Fame career
“Your college friend seems to have morphed into what I call a "legacy friend" a friend from the past with little currency in the present.”
The Huffington Post: Dr. Irene S. Levine: Legacy Friends: Keeping old friendships alive
“But the legacy is a two-tier economy that is only slowly eroding.”
The Wall Street Journal: Wal-Mart Checks Out a New Continent
“Fifa are more interested in legacy, which is possibly a euphemism for encouraging host nations to spend beyond their means on stadiums and facilities that quickly become white elephants.”
The Guardian: The more I hear of the World Cup bid the more I like bog-snorkelling
“What a strong woman and smart tool 'I know my legacy is my children.”
“But to claim you enhanced his legacy is a little much.”
Lists
These user-created lists contain the word ‘legacy’.
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Topical
The buzzwords of our time
actionable, administrivia, advermation, agreeance, backbone provider, back-sourcing, baked in, bandwidth, barn raising, Barneyware, belly-buttons, Below Zeros and 734 more...
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GRE Barrons Wordlist
A complete Barron's Wordlist for GRE preparation. Your online flashcard replacement.
abase, abash, abate, abbreviate, abdicate, aberrant, aberration, abet, abeyance, abhor, abject, abjure and 4084 more...
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bbc uk china vocab.
conservationists, estimate, threats, infertility, eating away at, endangered, furry, panel, in trouble, gongs, triumphed, caps and 563 more...
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Brand Theft Auto
A marque list for cars--models or companies who've used common words as their name.
explorer, navigator, frontier, mustang, quest, cougar, sidekick, legend, legacy, ranger, voyager, civic and 266 more...
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education
reesetee "Word sleuths advise me that 'legacy' derives from an ancient Indo-Aryan root meaning 'it wasn't my fault, and I should still get a bonus this year even though we lost billions of dollars.'"
-- The Peril Of Financial Linguistics, Newsweek, online March 28, 2009 Mar 31, 2009