bequest

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English biqueste, also biquyste,^[2][3][4] formed from Middle English bi- + quiste (“will, bequest”).^[3][4][5] The second part continues an Old English *cwis or *cwiss (“saying, utterance”), found only in compounds such as andcwis (“an answer”) and uncwisse (“speechless”),^[3][6][7] with cognates in Gothic 𐌰𐌽𐌰𐌵𐌹𐍃𐍃 (anaqiss, “slander”) and 𐌼𐌹𐍃𐍃𐌰𐌵𐌹𐍃𐍃 (missaqiss, “dispute”).^[3] It goes back to Proto-Germanic *kwessiz,^[7][3] from Proto-Indo-European *gwet- (“to say, speak”),^[7][3][8] the root also of quoth and, through the Old English verb becweðan, of bequeath.^[7][6] The OED sees a type stressed on the prefix that answered to the verb, with the stress later moved to match the verb's.^[2] The final -t is not etymological and has a parallel in behest;^[7][2][6] Barnhart puts it down to analogy with pairs such as give and gift.^[3] The sources differ on the rest: Klein takes the word as a blend of biquide and queste,^[9] the Shorter Oxford says the Old English element replaced cwide (“saying, testament”),^[10] and Merriam-Webster calls it simply an irregular formation from bequethen.^[11]

Earliest recorded meaning

The act of leaving something by will: the first record is biqueste in Mannyng's Chronicle, about 1300 in the OED and Etymonline,^[2][7] before 1338 in Barnhart.^[3]

Semantic evolution

The word first named the act, and then, from the end of the 15th century, the thing left: the OED's first record of "legacy" is from 1496.^[2][7] Johnson (1755) gives only this concrete sense, "something left by will; a legacy".^[12] A verb bequest, to give as a legacy, formed from the noun, ran from 1394 to 1795.^[2] In law, Collins now restricts the word to a gift by will, especially of personal property, as against a devise.^[13]

Timeline

• c. 1300 – biqueste, the act of bequeathing, in Mannyng.^[2][7] Barnhart dates the same text to before 1338.^[3]
• 1378 – the spelling biquyst, in Piers Plowman.^[3]
• 1394 – verb, to give as a bequest (obsolete by 1795).^[2]
• 1496 – that which is bequeathed; a legacy.^[2][7]

Meanings

Noun

1. Something left to someone by will; a legacy.^[2][13][11]
2. The act of bequeathing.^[2][13][11]
3. (law) A gift of property by will, especially of personal property.^[13]

Related words

• bequeath
• quoth

References

1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
4. ^ a b Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
5. ^ Mayhew, A. L.; Skeat, Walter W. (1888), A Concise Dictionary of Middle English from A.D. 1150 to 1580, Oxford: Clarendon Press
6. ^ a b c Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
7. ^ a b c d e f g h i Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
8. ^ The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (online 2024), 5th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
9. ^ Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
10. ^ Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
11. ^ a b c Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
12. ^ Johnson, Samuel (1755), A Dictionary of the English Language, London; 4th ed. 1773; Johnson's Dictionary Online, ed. Beth Rapp Young et al.
13. ^ a b c d Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins