See Also: legacy(medicine)
legacy(dictionary)
legacy(2)(dictionary)
legacy(1)(dictionary)
LEGACY(law)
LEGACY, RESIDUARY(law)
SPECIFIC LEGACY(law)
LEGACY, M0DAL(law)
LEGACY, LAPSED(law)
LEGACY, INDEFINITE(law)

legacy(2) (iou)



legacy noun. LME.
[Old French legacie from medieval Latin legatia legateship, from legatus LEGATE noun: see -CY. In Branch II repr. also medieval Latin legantia, from legare bequeath: cf. LEGANTINE adjective.]
I. Legateship, legation.
The function or office of a delegate or deputy, esp. a papal legate. LME-E18.
A body of people sent as a deputation to a monarch etc.; the act of sending such a body. LME-L16.
The message or business committed to a delegate or deputy. LME-M17.
II.
A sum of money, or a specified article, given to another by will; a bequest. LME.
C. Hope Perhaps a rich relative would die and leave him a legacy.
b. transf. & fig. A tangible or intangible thing handed down by a predecessor; a long-lasting effect of an event or process. L16.
J. Wain The legacy of Victorian industrialismslums, ignorance, densely crowded streets. S. Brett The scar on her thumb, legacy of an accident with a kitchen knife.
The action or an act of bequeathing; bequest. L15-E17.
Comb.: legacy-hunter, legacy-monger a person who is attentive to old and rich people in the hope of obtaining a legacy.