Where does “legacy” come from?
Legacy comes from Middle English legacie, from Old French legacie, originally denoting a bequest or gift left by will.
legacy (English): Money or property bequeathed to someone in a...
Definitions
- Money or property bequeathed to someone in a...
Ancestry of “legacy”, step by step
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Middle English | legacie | — |
| 2 | Old French | legacie | — |
| 3 | Medieval Latin | legatia | — |
| 4 | Latin | legatum | A bequest, legacy; nominative neuter singular of... |
| 5 | Latin | lēgātus | envoy, ambassador, legate |
| 6 | Latin | legō | to collect, gather, bring together, catch |
| 7 | Latin | lēx | a proposition or motion for a law made to the people by a magistrate, a bill |
| 8 | Proto-Italic | lēg- | — |
| 9 | Proto-Indo-European | leǵ-s | — |
| 10 | Proto-Indo-European | leǵ- | to gather, collect, with derivatives meaning to... |