English
bequest
Bequest comes from Middle English biqueste ‘will, testament, bequest’, from Proto-Germanic *kwissiz ‘saying’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *gʷet- ‘to say’.
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*gʷet-‘to say’reconstructed
- Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*kwissiz‘saying’reconstructed
- Old Englishc. 450–1150*cwistreconstructed
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500queste‘saying, utterance, testament, will, legacy’
- Middle English, derivedc. 1150–1500biqueste‘will, testament, bequest’
- Englishearliest quotation 1846bequest
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed
Lineage
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*gʷet-‘to say’reconstructed
- Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*kwissiz‘saying’reconstructed
- Old Englishc. 450–1150*cwistreconstructed
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500queste‘saying, utterance, testament, will, legacy’
- Middle English, derivedc. 1150–1500biqueste‘will, testament, bequest’
- Englishearliest quotation 1846bequest
Earliest quotation: 1846, Nathaniel Hawthorne, The New Adam and Eve: “Yet some odor of religion is still lingering here,…”
The story
Not related to quest, which is from Latin.
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *gʷet- ‘to say’
pudding, bowel, quid, bitumen, botulism, cud, botulinum, quoth, 14 more
Another origin of bequest
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500biquesten
- Englishtodaybequest
Today it means
noun The act of bequeathing or leaving by will.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *gʷet- / bequest