Legatary

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A person named to receive property, money, or other assets left to them under a will or legal bequest
2. Someone who inherits a legacy, meaning goods or funds bequeathed to them by a deceased person
3. The beneficiary of a bequest, the individual to whom a testator has left something in their will

Etymology: "Legatary" is a legal term for a person who receives a legacy, meaning a bequest of property or money under someone's will. It came into English from Latin "legatarius," which was itself built from "legaturius," meaning "enjoined by a last will." The Latin root sends us back to "legare," to bequeath or appoint by testament, which is also the source of "legacy." The word thus carries the same sense of a last wish as its more familiar cousin. A legacy is the gift itself, while the legatary is the person who inherits it. French gave English a parallel form, "légataire," and the two words moved along the same path, both keeping the idea of a will at their centre.

Synonyms: legatee, beneficiary, heir