legacy
/ˈlɛɡəsi/ noun, adjective
Forms legacies
- noun (law) Money or property bequeathed to someone in a will.
- noun Something inherited from a predecessor or the past. “John Muir left as his legacy an enduring spirit of respect for the environment.”
- noun (education) The descendant of an alumnus, given preference in academic admissions. “Because she was a legacy, her mother's sorority rushed her.”
- adjective (especially computing) Left over from the past; old and no longer current.
- adjective (sometimes postpositive) Belonging to a class of boardgame where permanent changes are made to game elements such as the board, cards and rules over multiple play sessions.
Synonyms
Etymology
From Middle English legacie, from Old French legacie and Medieval Latin lēgātia, from Latin lēgātum. Compare legatee.
The boardgame sense was coined by game designer Rob Daviau in 2011 with the game Risk Legacy.
Webster’s 1913
- noun A gift of property by will, esp. of money or personal property; a bequest. Also Fig.; as, a legacy of dishonor or disease.
- noun A business with which one is intrusted by another; a commission; - -obsolete, except in the phrases last legacy, dying legacy, and the like.
Etymology [L. (assumed) legatia, for legatum, from legare to appoint by last will, to bequeath as a legacy, to depute: cf. OF. legat legacy. See Legate.]
Sources: Wiktionary · WordNet 3.0 · Webster’s 1913 — from the Wiktionary entry “legacy”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details