bequest

Definition

The act of bequeathing or leaving by will.

Etymology

From Middle English biqueste, bequeste (“will, testament, bequest”), from be + -quiste, queste (“saying, utterance, testament, will, legacy”), from Old English *cwist, *cwiss (“saying”) (compare Old English andcwiss, ġecwis, uncwisse, etc.), from Proto-Germanic *kwissiz (“saying”), from Proto-Indo-European *gʷet- (“to say”). Related to Old English andcwiss (“answer, reply”), Old English uncwisse (“dumb, mute”), Middle English bequethen (“to bequeath”). Not related to quest, which is from Latin. More at quoth, bequeath.

Example Sentences

• "2006 SHERRY CLODMAN & EDWARD H. PEARCE: Well Advised. p.25 Civil Sector Press →ISBN A specific bequest is the gift of a specific sum of money, or the gift of a specific property or a particular asset. Perhaps the most common type of bequest, and undoubtedly the most certain, it is the first to be paid after the settlement of estate debts."
• "Yet some odor of religion is still lingering here, the bequest of pious souls, who had grace to enjoy a foretaste of immortal life."