legacy

noun

leg·​a·​cy ˈle-gə-sē 

plural legacies

1

: something (such as personal property or money) that is willed to someone by a person who has died : bequest

She left us a legacy of a million dollars.

… knew nothing of Sally's finances beyond the fact that … she had come into a legacy of some kind.

—P. G. Wodehouse

2

: something transmitted by or received from an ancestor or predecessor or from the past

the legacy of the ancient philosophers

… their chief intellectual legacy to posterity …

—Norman Douglas

We will continue her legacy of philanthropy, support and kindness …

—Voices (Woodbury, CT)

We must … learn from and live with the disaster's painful legacy.

—Stuart Logan Lindsay

This is all about passing down the treasures, the legacy of culture.

—Philip Kennicott

3

: a candidate for membership in an organization (such as a school or fraternal order) who is given special status because of a familial relationship to a member

Legacies, or children of alumni, are three times more likely to be accepted to Harvard than other high school graduates with the same (sometimes better) scores …

—Michael Lind

Did you know?

In its basic meaning, a legacy is a gift of money or other personal property that's granted by the terms of a will—often a substantial gift that needs to be properly managed. But the word is used much more broadly as well. So, for instance, much of Western civilization—law, philosophy, aesthetics— could be called the undying legacy of ancient Greece. And the rights and opportunities that women enjoy today are partly the legacy of the early suffragists and feminists.

Synonyms of legacy

• inheritance

Examples of legacy in a Sentence

She left us a legacy of a million dollars.

He left his children a legacy of love and respect.

The war left a legacy of pain and suffering.

Her artistic legacy lives on through her children.

Recent Examples on the Web

Everything first lady occupies multiple floors, including a small theater showing films, and rotating and themed exhibits exploring the influence and legacies of presidential counterparts throughout American history. —Usa Today Network, USA Today, 10 June 2026

The familiar, idealistic version of his legacy is one that has been carefully curated. —Literary Hub, 10 June 2026

For Larry Nemecek, president of the Will Rogers Ranch Foundation, the centennial arrives at a pivotal moment for both Route 66 and the historic ranch as stakeholders consider how best to preserve and reinterpret Rogers’ legacy following the fire. —Daily News, 9 June 2026

Manufactured since the 1940s to make products nonstick, stain-resistant and water-repellent, legacy PFAS have been linked to human cancer, obesity, thyroid disease, high cholesterol, decreased fertility, liver damage, hormone disruption and damage to the immune system, according to the EPA. —Sandee Lamotte, CNN Money, 9 June 2026

Word History

Etymology

Middle English legacie office of a legate, bequest, from Anglo-French or Medieval Latin; Anglo-French, office of a legate, from Medieval Latin legatia, from Latin legatus

First Known Use

1514, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Kids Definition

legacy

noun

leg·​a·​cy

ˈleg-ə-sē

plural legacies

: something left to a person by or as if by will

Legal Definition

legacy

noun

leg·​a·​cy ˈle-gə-sē 

plural legacies

: a gift of property by will

specifically : a gift of personal property by will : bequest see also ademption compare devise

— conjoint legacy

in the civil law of Louisiana : a legacy by a single disposition to more than one legatee or of indivisible property to more than one legatee

— demonstrative legacy \ di-​ˈmän-​strə-​tiv-​ \

: a legacy payable from a designated fund or asset or from the general assets of the estate to the extent the specified fund or asset fails to satisfy the legacy

— general legacy

: a legacy payable out of the general assets of the estate

— legacy under a universal title

in the civil law of Louisiana : a legacy that consists of a specified proportion (as one-half), a specified type (as movables), or a specified proportion of a specified type of the testator's property

— particular legacy

in the civil law of Louisiana : any legacy that is not a universal legacy or a legacy under a universal title

called also legacy under particular title

— residuary legacy

: a legacy that consists of all of the testator's estate which has not been distributed through other legacies or charges upon the estate

— specific legacy

: a legacy payable only from a specific fund or asset in the estate

— universal legacy

in the civil law of Louisiana : a legacy by which a testator gives to one or more legatees all of his or her property at the time of death

Etymology

Medieval Latin legatio, from Latin legare to bequeath