Bequest Meaning
/bɪˈkwɛst/Definition, CEFR level C1, pronunciation, examples, and quiz.
Listen pronunciation
Definition
nounThe act of bequeathing or leaving by will.
nounThe transfer of property upon the owner's death according to the will of the deceased.
Sentence Examples
His generous bequest enabled the church to continue funding the youth group.
Did the bequest cover the cost of recruiting a professor?
Synonyms & Antonyms
Synonyms:
Antonyms:
None
CEFR Practice Quiz
The museum received a valuable ____ of rare paintings from a collector.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
The hospital received a large ____ from a local woman who had passed away.
Word Origin & History
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.
Literary Quotations & Historical Citations
"Yet some odor of religion is still lingering here, the bequest of pious souls, who had grace to enjoy a foretaste of immortal life."
— 1846, Nathaniel Hawthorne, “The New Adam and Eve”, in Mosses from an Old Manse:
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CEFR Practice Quiz
The museum received a valuable ____ of rare paintings from a collector.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
The hospital received a large ____ from a local woman who had passed away.