Unbequeathed

Part of speech: adjective

Definitions

1. Not transferred to heirs or beneficiaries by will; lacking any disposition of property after death; remaining unsettled in terms of inheritance
2. Without having been granted or assigned through a testamentary document; not passed down to successors; property or assets left without a formal bequest
3. Not formally given or distributed by means of a legal testament; left undelivered to beneficiaries; relating to possessions remaining unallocated by a will

Etymology: "Unbequeathed" is simply the negative of "bequeathed," with the prefix "un-" attached to it. "Bequeathed" is the past participle of "bequeath," a verb meaning to leave personal property to someone through a will. That verb descends from Old English "becwepan," built from "be-" and "cwepan" ("to say"), so its underlying sense was of formally saying or declaring something to a successor. The prefix "un-" is an old and productive English element, and "unbequeathed" follows the familiar pattern of negating a past participle to describe something that has not undergone the action. Its use is largely confined to legal and genealogical discussion, where it marks assets or titles that passed outside a formal testamentary document. Such property may have been left to heirs by custom or law rather than by will, or simply been left unassigned at a person's death.

Synonyms: unwilled, unleft, unassigned

Antonyms: bequeathed, willed, left