bequeath
Syllables: be·queath/bɪˈkwiːθ/
bequeath verb: to give or leave by will; to give by testament.
Verb
bequeath (third-person singular simple present bequeaths, present participle bequeathing, simple past bequeathed or (obsolete) bequoth, past participle bequeathed or (obsolete) bequoth or (rare) bequethen or (obsolete) bequothen)
- To give or leave by will; to give by testament.
- To hand down; to transmit.
- Ownership of manufacturing workshops is not essential to that job; but BR happen to have been bequeathed a considerable number with a proud history.1964 May, “News and Comment: Minister hamstrings BR workshops”, in Modern Railways, page 291
- First Xavier (Vernon Chatman): Looks like I already did. You're the sad figment of my twisted psyche's tragic dividend. You're the un-me. I'm the real me. You wanna be me?
Second Xavier (Vernon Chatman): Kiddo, I was the real me when you were still in my short pants.
First Xavier: Hate to break it...2008, Xavier: Renegade Angel, season 1, episode 10
- To give; to offer; to commit.
- These young gay men and lesbians were more militant and began to reject advice from the homophile movement to try to "fit into" society, not to make waves, and to rely on professionals and establishment figures to bequeath them social rights.2006 March 26, Leslie Feinberg, “'Gay is good'”, in Workers World
bequeath meaning in Tamil, Bengali, Malayalam and Kannada
bequeath in Tamil
- உயில்வழியளி, மரபுரிமையாக அளி, விருப்பாவணவழி அளித்தல், விருப்புறுதி வாயிலாக அளி
bequeath in Bengali
- উইলের মাধ্যমে দান করা
bequeath in Malayalam
- വിൽപത്രം മുഖേന നൽകുന്ന ആസ്തി
bequeath in Kannada
- ಸ್ವಾಮ್ಯವನ್ನು ತ್ಯಜಿಸು, ಆಸ್ತಿಯನ್ನು ವರ್ಗಾಯಿಸು
Examples of bequeath in a sentence
- The philanthropic endowment that she bequeathed gave her an ongoing afterlife.
- I bequeath my farm to my brother John on condition that he bequeath it to his son Peter. The farm is entailed or burdened by a fideicommissum.
- Probably its leader Paul Berenger is keen to bequeath it as his final legacy before the curtain falls for him.
Synonyms of bequeath
Forms of bequeath
| third-person singular present | bequeaths |
|---|---|
| present participle | bequeathing |
| past | bequeathed |
| past participle | bequeathed |
| past (obsolete) | bequoth |
| past participle (obsolete) | bequoth |
| past participle (rare) | bequethen |
| past participle (obsolete) | bequothen |
Origin of 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.
Words formed from bequeath
Words that rhyme with bequeath
Questions about bequeath
- What does bequeath mean?
- Bequeath means to give or leave by will; to give by testament.
- What is bequeath in Tamil?
- Bequeath in Tamil is உயில்வழியளி, மரபுரிமையாக அளி, விருப்பாவணவழி அளித்தல். See Bequeath meaning in Tamil.
- What part of speech is bequeath?
- Bequeath is a verb.
- How do you pronounce bequeath?
- Bequeath is pronounced /bɪˈkwiːθ/ (UK).
- What is the past tense of bequeath?
- The past tense of bequeath is bequeathed.
Words near bequeath in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: bequeath (page history and authors); bequeath (Tamil Wiktionary) (page history and authors); bequeath (Bengali Wiktionary) (page history and authors); bequeath (Malayalam Wiktionary) (page history and authors); bequeath (Kannada Wiktionary) (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
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Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-bequeath.wav.
Cite this entry: “bequeath.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/bequeath. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.