Other forms: bequeathed, bequeathing, bequeaths
To bequeath is to leave something to somebody in your will. Bequeath the house, bequeathed to his son, bequeath a legacy.
Strictly, in older law you bequeath personal property and devise land, though the distinction has largely gone. Figuratively it covers anything handed on: bequeath a tradition, bequeath a problem to your successor. Note bequest, which is the noun and looks unrelated; and that the word comes from an Old English verb meaning to say, so a bequest is something spoken over.
1verbbequeathTo leave something to somebody in your will.
“She bequeathed her house to the local animal shelter.”
2verbhandTo hand something on to those who follow.
“Our generation will bequeath a warmer planet to our grandchildren.”
bequeath is a leaving by will.
Old English becwethan is be- plus cwethan, to say. Quoth comes from the same saying, and bequest is the noun from it.
Proto-Indo-European
*gʷet-
Old English
becweþan — to say, to speak, to address, exhort, admonish, blame, bequeath, leave by will
Middle English
biquethen
English, today
bequeath
From Middle English biquethen, from Old English becweþan (“to say, to speak, to address, exhort, admonish, blame, bequeath, leave by will”). Cognate with Old Frisian biquetha.
Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA
Practised in Family & People