▪ I. bequeath, v.
(bɪˈkwiːð)
Forms: 1 bi-, becweðan, 2–5 bi-, byqueðen, -þe(n, -the(n, 4–6 bequethe, 4–5 -qweth(e, 6 -queath(e, (5 -quete, -wheth(e, -wete, -qwithe, -quaythe, and innumerable illiterate spellings in wills). pa. tense 6– bequeathed; in 1 becwæð, 2 -quað, 2–3 -queð, 2–4 -queþ, 3 -quaad, 5 -quath(e, -quaythed. pa. pple. 6– bequeathed; in 1 becweden, 3 -queðe(n, 5 -quethe(n, -quette, -witt, -quothen, -quethed.
[OE. bi-, becweðan, f. be- 4 + cweðan to say: see quethe and quoth. An ancient word, the retention of which is due to the traditional language of wills. Originally, like its radical cweðan, a strong vb.; but having only weak inflexion since 1500. In north. dial. written in 15th c. bewhethe, and variously perverted as -whete, -weth, -withe, -wite, -wit, -quite, -quit, which show the groping of popular etymology after some known verb to which the derivative might be referred.]
I. To say, utter, declare.
† 1. trans. To say, utter, express in words. Obs.
| c 1000 Ags. Ps. lxxxviii. 44 [-ix. 51] Þæt þinum criste becweþað swiðe. c 1000 Andreas (Gr.) 418 Gif þu þeᵹn sie..wuldor cyninges, swa þu worde becwist. |
† b. Of language: To express, signify, mean.
| c 1175 Lamb. Hom. 75 Ic ou wile seggen word efter word and þermide hwat þet word bi-queþ. Ibid. 133 Hwet þeo saȝe bicweðe. c 1200 Trin. Coll. Hom. 17 Alle cunne ower crede..þeih ȝe alle nuten hwat hit biqueðe. |
† 2. ? To speak about in sorrow, to bewail. Obs. (Or is this error for bigreden, or bigreithen?)
| c 1250 Gen. & Ex. 2448 Ðe liches beðen, And smeren, and winden, and bi-queðen. |
II. To ‘say (a thing) away’; to give or part with by formal declaration.
† 3. To assign, ordain, appoint, allot, give as an attribute (a thing to a person, etc.). Obs.
| c 1250 Gen. & Ex. 117 God bi-quuad watres here stede. 1674 N. Fairfax Bulk & Selv. 79 Yet these belongers to body are helpful enough, wherewith to set forth the nature of the things to which we bequeath them. |
4. To make a formal assignation of (property of which one is possessed) to any one, † a. so as to pass to him at once: To transfer, hand over, make over, assign, deliver. Obs.
| c 1305 Edmund Conf. 132 in E.E.P. (1862) 74 Þis catel þat ich biqueþe þis dede forto do. 1480 Caxton Chron. Eng. xciv. 74 He had the reame..sauf he byquath and yafe it to his broder. 1595 Shakes. John i. i. 149 Wilt thou..Bequeath thy land to him, and follow me? 1611 ― Wint. T. v. iii. 102 Bequeath to Death your numnesse. |
b. so as to pass to the recipient after one's death: To ‘leave’ by will. (The only surviving sense, for which it is the proper term.)
| 1066 Chart. Eadweard in Cod. Dipl. IV. 191 Swa full fre and swa forð swa he it sainte Petre bequað. c 1200 Trin. Coll. Hom. 183 Gief þe quike haueð aihte þe were þe dedes ærrure þe he him biqueð. c 1393 Chaucer Gentilesse 17 There may noman..Beqweythe his heyre his vertuous noblesse. 1418 E.E. Wills (1882) 25 My godys..I be-quethe to Ione my wyfe. c 1440 Promp. Parv. 31. 1440 Test. Ebor. ii. (1855) 134 A speciall wille..in wheche I have bequothen and sette diverse thyngys to certenn persouns. 1443 Ibid. 106, I gyffe and bewhete..xl s. c 1440 Gesta Rom. (1879) 23 He bequathe to his dowter all his Empire. 1530 Palsgr. 448/2 My grant mother byquaythed me a hundred pounde. 1601 Shakes. Jul. C. iii. ii. 141 Bequeathing it as a rich Legacie Vnto their issue. 1782 Priestley Corrupt. Chr. II. vi. 28 Sums of money were..bequeathed to the priests. 1876 Green Short Hist. ii. §6 (1882) 85 William had bequeathed Normandy to his eldest son, Robert. |
c. fig. To transmit (to posterity), to ‘leave.’
| 1614 Raleigh Hist. World ii. 415 Jacob in his blessing prophetically bequeathed it. 1752 Johnson Rambl. No. 205 ¶13 This narrative he has bequeathed to future generations. 1875 Scrivener Lect. Grk. Test. 11 Antiquity has bequeathed to us nothing else that can be compared with them. |
† 5. To commit to, unto (any one) with recommendation to his acceptance or care; to commend, entrust. Also fig. Obs. or arch.
| c 1225 Rel. Ant. I. 235 Louerd Godd, in hondes tine I biqueðe soule mine. 1436 Test. Ebor. ii. (1855) 75, I bewitt my saule to Gode Allmighty. 1591 Spenser Virg. Gnat 633 Them therefore as bequeathing to the winde, I now depart. 1596 Drayton Legends iii. 16 Let Me to Thee, my sad Complaints bequeathe. 1700 Dryden Pythag. Philos. 57 Fables (1721) 301 The judges to the common urn bequeath Their votes. 1718 Pope Iliad vii. 399 We to flames our slaughtered friends bequeath. |
† 6. gen. To deliver, bestow, give, yield, furnish.
| c 1440 Gesta Rom. (1879) 25 To whom god hath ȝevin and bequeþon..paradise. 1608 Pennyless Parl. in Harl. Misc. (Malh.) III. 72 A niggards purse shall scarce bequeath his master a good dinner. 1674 N. Fairfax Bulk & Selv. 122 That which bequeaths it this slow pace. |
† 7. refl. To commit oneself, give oneself up, devote oneself. Obs. or arch.
| 1555 Phaër æneid iii. —iv, This fleete at last..I see..I did myself bequeth thereto to flee. 1652 Evelyn State of France Misc. (1805) 85 Gentlemen..who generally so bequeath themselves to this service. 1829 K. Digby Broadst. Hon. I. 166 Orpheus..bequeaths himself to a solitary life in the deserts. |
▪ II. † beˈqueath, n. Obs.
Forms: 3 byquide, 4 bekuyde, -quide, 5 beqweth, 6 bequede, bequeth, 7 bequeath.
[ME. byquide:—OE. b{iacu}cwide, ˈbiᵹcwide, quotable only in sense of ‘byword, proverb’ (cf. bequeath v. 1), f. b{iacu}-, emphatic form of bi-, be- prefix + cwide a sentence, a saying, cogn. w. OS. quidi, OHG. chwiti:—OTeut. *qidi-z, f. qiþan (OS. quethan, queðan, OE. cweðan) to say; pa. pple. (with grammatical consonant-change) OE. cweden. In later times, gradually assimilated in form to the vb. bequeath.]
1. Byword, proverb. (Only in OE.)
| c 1000 ælfric Deut. xxviii. 37 Ge forwurðaþ þurh biᵹspell and biᵹcwidas. |
2. Bequest, testament, will.
| 1297 R. Glouc. 384 Gret folc he sende also Fram Normandye to worry, & hys fader byquide vndo. 1340 Ayenb. 38 Kueade exequitours of bekuydes. 1490 Church-w. Acc. St. Dunstan's, Canterb., Rec. the full of the beqweth of Mother Belser xxxiijs. iiijd. 1527 Lanc. & Chesh. Wills (1854) 35 All the foresaid gyftes and bequedes. 1642 Fragm. Reg. in Select. Harl. Misc. (1793) 185 They may express more affection to one in the abundance of bequeaths. |
b. fig.
| 1340 Ayenb. 112 He hit ous let: at his [Christ's] yleaue nymynge and at his laste bequide. a 1617 Bayne On Eph. 11 Peace is that golden bequeath which Christ did leave us. |