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bequest

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bequest¹

  • /bɪˈkwɛst/

Rhymes with -ɛst

Where it comes from

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.

noun bequests

  1. The act of bequeathing or leaving by will.
  2. The transfer of property upon the owner's death according to the will of the deceased. 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 pa
  3. That which is left by will; a legacy.
  4. That which has been handed down or transmitted. Yet some odor of religion is still lingering here, the bequest of pious souls, who had grace to enjoy a foretaste of immortal life.
  5. A person's inheritance; an amount of property given by will.

Similar: bequeathal, legacy, gift, donation

bequest²

Where it comes from

From Middle English biquesten, from the noun (see above).

verb bequests · bequesting · bequested

  1. transitive To give as a bequest; bequeath.

Thesaurus

noun

Similar: bequeathal, legacy, gift, donation

Translations

Every language

noun will of the deceased

Españoltestamento
Portuguêstestamento
Françaistestament
DeutschTestament
Italianolascito, testamento, volontà
Русскийзавещание zaveščanije

noun a person's inheritance

Españolherencia, heredad
Françaishéritage, legs
DeutschErbschaft
Italianoeredità
Русскийнасле́дство naslédstvo

verb give as a bequest

Deutschvererben, vermachen
Русскийзавещать zaveščatʹ

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Cite this
MLA

"bequest." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/bequest. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026.

APA

bequest. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/bequest

Chicago

"bequest." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/bequest.

BibTeX
@misc{bequest_2026,
  title = {bequest},
  howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://micwyn.com/word/bequest},
  urldate = {2026-11-06}
}