bequeath
pronunciation
How to pronounce bequeath in British English:
UK [bɪˈkwi:ð]
How to pronounce bequeath in American English:
US [bɪˈkwið, -ˈkwiθ]
-
- Verb:
- leave or give by will after one's death
Word Origin
- bequeath
- bequeath: [OE] Etymologically, what you bequeath is what you ‘say’ you will leave someone in your will. The word comes from Old English becwethan, a derivative of cwethan ‘say’, whose past tense cwæth gives us quoth (it is no relation to quote, by the way). The original sense ‘say, utter’ died out in the 13th century, leaving the legal sense of ‘transferring by will’ (first recorded in 1066).The noun derivative of Old English cwethan in compounds was -cwiss. Hence we can assume there was an Old English noun *becwiss, although none is recorded. The first we hear of it is at the beginning of the 14th century, when it had unaccountably had a t added to it, producing what we now know as bequest.=> bequest, quoth
- bequeath (v.)
- Old English becweðan "to say, speak to, exhort, blame," also "leave by will;" from be- + cweðan "to say," from Proto-Germanic *kwethan, from PIE *gwet- "to say, speak." Original sense of "say, utter" died out 13c., leaving legal sense of "transfer by will." Closely related to bequest. "An old word kept alive in wills" [OED 1st ed.]. Old English bequeðere meant "interpreter, translator." Related: Bequeathed; bequeathing.
Example
- 1. Lorne gladstone of toronto is 58 , but prudently pondering how to bequeath his digital property .
- 2. I decided then and there to hand these legends down to my own children , much the way another family might bequeath a cherished homemade quilt .
- 3. Despite rumours that jackson planned to bequeath his share of sony / atv publishing to mccartney , it was revealed last week that there was no such instruction in the will .
- 4. It is an extremely difficult balance to strike , and it is made no easier by the fact that , in some societies , the possession and use of a gun has become a metaphor for every right that parents wish to bequeath to their offspring .
- 5. Officials would prefer you to be born live work pay taxes draw benefits and die in the same place travel on one passport only and bequeath only one nationality to your offspring .