noun
Meaning 1
The act of bequeathing or leaving by will.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
Standard Lemma guide
bequest
Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.
Sound
Pronunciation
Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.
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/bɪˈkwɛst/
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Southern-England: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
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US: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
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rhymes with -ɛst
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CMU ARPABET: B IH0 K W EH1 S T Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.
noun
Meaning 2
The transfer of property upon the owner's death according to the will of the deceased.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Examples
- 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.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
noun
Meaning 3
That which is left by will; a legacy.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
noun
Meaning 4
That which has been handed down or transmitted.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
noun
Meaning 5
A person's inheritance; an amount of property given by will.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
verb
Meaning 6
To give as a bequest; bequeath.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: transitive
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
noun
Meaning 7
(law) a gift of personal property by will
Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: legacy
Antonyms: none provided
Broader terms: inheritance, heritage, gift
History
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.
From Middle English biquesten, from the noun (see above).
Across languages
Translations
52 source translations are retained for this English entry.
- Bulgarian: завещание (zaveštanie) — will of the deceased
- Esperanto: testamentaĵo — will of the deceased
- French: testament — will of the deceased
- Galician: manda — will of the deceased
- Galician: testamento — will of the deceased
- Galician: legado — will of the deceased
- German: Testament — will of the deceased
- Irish: tiomna — will of the deceased
- Italian: lascito — will of the deceased
- Italian: testamento — will of the deceased
- Italian: volontà — will of the deceased
- Māori: oha — will of the deceased
- Norwegian: testament — will of the deceased
- Portuguese: testamento — will of the deceased
- Russian: завещание (zaveščanije) — will of the deceased
- Scottish Gaelic: tiomnadh — will of the deceased
- Spanish: testamento — will of the deceased
- Ukrainian: запові́т (zapovít) — will of the deceased
- Bulgarian: наследство (nasledstvo) — a person's inheritance
- Danish: dødsgave — a person's inheritance
- Danish: dødslejegave — a person's inheritance
- Faroese: arvleiddur serarvur — a person's inheritance
- Faroese: stakarvur — a person's inheritance
- Finnish: testamenttilahjoitus — a person's inheritance
- French: héritage — a person's inheritance
- French: legs — a person's inheritance
- Galician: manda — a person's inheritance
- Galician: legado — a person's inheritance
- Galician: herdanza — a person's inheritance
- German: Erbschaft — a person's inheritance
- Icelandic: dánargjöf — a person's inheritance
- Italian: eredità — a person's inheritance
- Latin: lēgātum — a person's inheritance
- Macedonian: наследство (nasledstvo) — a person's inheritance
- Norwegian Bokmål: testamentarisk gave — a person's inheritance
- Norwegian Bokmål: legat — a person's inheritance
- Norwegian Nynorsk: testamentarisk gåve — a person's inheritance
- Russian: насле́дство (naslédstvo) — a person's inheritance
- Spanish: herencia — a person's inheritance
- Spanish: heredad — a person's inheritance
- Swedish: legat — a person's inheritance
- Swedish: testamentsgåva — a person's inheritance
- Swedish: postum gåva — a person's inheritance
- Ukrainian: спа́док (spádok) — a person's inheritance
- Ukrainian: спа́дщина (spádščyna) — a person's inheritance
- German: vererben — give as a bequest
- German: vermachen — give as a bequest
- Māori: oha — give as a bequest
- Māori: tukuoha — give as a bequest
- Russian: завещать (zaveščatʹ) — give as a bequest
- Ukrainian: заповіда́ти (zapovidáty) — give as a bequest
- Ukrainian: заповісти́ (zapovistý) — give as a bequest
Real reading context