Merriam-WebsterMain
Entry: leg·a·cy Pronunciation: 'le-g&-sE
Function: nounInflected
Form(s): plural -cies
Etymology: Middle English legacie office of a legate,
bequest, from Middle French or Medieval Latin; Middle French, office of
a legate, from Medieval Latin legatia, from Latin legatus
Date: 15th century
1 : a gift by will especially of money or other personal property : BEQUEST
2
: something transmitted by or received from an ancestor or predecessor or
from the past
Leg"a*cy (?), n.; pl.Legacies (#). [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.]
1. A gift of property by will, esp. of money or personal property; a bequest.
Also Fig.; as, a legacy of dishonor or disease.
2. A business with which one is intrusted by another; a commission; -- obsolete,
except in the phrases last legacy, dying legacy, and the like.