Bequeath

Bequeath (A.S. bicwethan), a word meaning originally to declare, and in the technical language of English law, to leave personal property by will to another. In Scots law the words bequeath and bequest are less used than in England. In both countries the expression 'leave and bequeath' is appropriate to the disposal of personal property, but in neither country would the courts defeat the intention of a testator to include his heritable or real estate, if that intention sufficiently appeared. See LEGACY, WILL.