bequeath

前缀be-, 强调。queath, 词源同voice, 说。此处指临终遗嘱。

bequeath

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 cwæth 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 becweðan "to say, speak to, exhort, blame," also "leave by will;" from be- + cweðan "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 bequeðere meant "interpreter, translator." Related: Bequeathed; bequeathing.

1. It is true that colonialism did not bequeath much to Africa.

殖民主义给非洲确实没有留下多少东西。

2. She said if the world did not act conclusively now, it would only bequeath the problem to future generations.

她说如果人类现在不采取决定性的行动，那就只会把问题留给子孙后代。

3. It will be better to bequeath it to him after my death, in my will.

我不如写在遗嘱里,等我死了留赠给他.

4. If you want my family so badly , I hereby bequeath them to you.

我会双手奉上的,如果你想要我的家人的话.

5. Most people bequeath their property to their spouses and children.

大多数人把他们的财产遗留给他们的配偶和孩子们.