Bequest


a disposition in a will.
a legacy:
A small bequest allowed her to live independently.
Contemporary Examples

The bequest to Tolson was the final word on the closeness of their relationship.
Hoover’s Secret Files Ronald Kessler August 1, 2011

Muth called police to say she died from a fall, and told her family he was owed a bequest of $250,000.
Georgetown Socialite Viola Drath Killed by Assassin, Husband Claims Sandra McElwaine November 18, 2011

Historical Examples

The fulness of delight in a garden is the bequest of a childhood spent in a garden.
Old-Time Gardens Alice Morse Earle

The founding or endowing of universities and public libraries by gift or bequest.
The Devil’s Dictionary Ambrose Bierce

In a somewhat recent case in Pennsylvania, the question of revocation arose, in regard to a bequest to charity.
The Curiosities and Law of Wills John Proffatt

Of Vogelwied, the Minnesinger, and his bequest to the birds.
The Works of Whittier, Volume VII (of VII) John Greenleaf Whittier

It is however, likely that other members of the family (if not he, by bequest) contributed largely to the general building fund.
Bell’s Cathedrals: The Churches of Coventry Frederic W. Woodhouse

They might enforce on them a total abolition of inheritance and bequest.’
Old-Fashioned Ethics and Common-Sense Metaphysics William Thomas Thornton

To Mr. Cecil Burleigh his old friend’s bequest was a boon to be thankful for, and he was profoundly thankful.
The Vicissitudes of Bessie Fairfax Harriet Parr

One of the stories he had finished was “The $30,000 bequest.”
Mark Twain, A Biography, 1835-1910, Complete Albert Bigelow Paine

noun

the act of bequeathing
something that is bequeathed

(law) a gift of property by will, esp personal property Compare devise (sense 4), devise (sense 5)
n.

c.1300, “act of bequeathing,” from be- + *cwis, *cwiss “saying” (related to quoth; from Proto-Germanic *kwessiz; cf. bequeath), with excrescent -t. Meaning “that which is bequeathed” is recorded from late 15c.

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