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 cw?th 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 becweean "to say, speak to, exhort, blame," also "leave by will;" from be- + cweean "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 bequeeere meant "interpreter, translator." Related: Bequeathed; bequeathing.
例文
1. It is true that colonialism did not bequeath much to Africa.
植民地主義はアフリカに確かにあまり残っていない。
2.She said if the world did not act conclusively now，it would only bequeath the problem to future generations.
彼女は人間が今決定的な行動を取らなければ、問題を子孫に残すだけだと言った。
3.It will be better to bequeath it to him after my death，in my will.
私は遺言書に書いたほうがいい、私が死んだら彼に贈ってあげる。
4.If you want my family so badly，I hereby bequeath them to you.
私は両手で捧げます、もしあなたが私の家族を望むなら。
5.Most people bequeath their property to their spouses and children.