legacy

C1 Topic:People & Society

US /ˈleɪɡəsi/ UK /ˈlɛɡəsi/ See IPA manual

Freq #5882

Meanings

1

noun
Something passed down from the past or from a person who came before.

The former president left behind a lasting legacy of reform.
2

noun
Money or property left to someone in a will.

He used the legacy from his aunt to buy a small house.
3

adj
Left over from the past and no longer up to date.

The bank still relies on slow legacy software from the 1990s.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

1 noun · something passed down from... heritage

2 noun · money or property left to... bequest

Word family

Forms legacies

Simplified etymology

Legacy entered English in the late Middle English period through French and ultimately derives from Latin lex, leg- “law.” It therefore belongs to the same Latin word family as legal, legitimate, and loyal.

Etymology

From Middle English legacie, from Old French legacie and Medieval Latin lēgātia, from Latin lēgātum.

legacie Middle English lēgātia la-med lego Latin

View etymology graph ->

Topics

People & Society Word Formation & Derivatives

External links

# legacy

**Type:** Word
**Level:** C1
**Part of speech:** noun, adj
**IPA (US):** /ˈleɪɡəsi/
**IPA (UK):** /ˈlɛɡəsi/
**Frequency rank:** 5882

## Meanings
1. Something passed down from the past or from a person who came before.
2. Money or property left to someone in a will.
3. Left over from the past and no longer up to date.

## Examples
- The former president left behind a lasting legacy of reform.
- He used the legacy from his aunt to buy a small house.
- The bank still relies on slow legacy software from the 1990s.

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: legacie
- Root: lēgātia
- Root: lego

## Etymology
From Middle English legacie, from Old French legacie and Medieval Latin lēgātia, from Latin lēgātum.

## AI Etymology
Legacy is from Middle English legacie, from Old French legacie and Medieval Latin lēgātia, from Latin lēgātum. In present-day use, it can mean something passed down from the past or from a person who came before, or money or property left to someone in a will.

## Topics
- People & Society
- Word Formation & Derivatives

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