| 释义 |
▪ I. legacy, n.|ˈlɛgəsɪ|
Forms: 4 legasy, 4–7 -cie, 6 -cye, -sey, (pl. legaces), 7 leagacie, 5– legacy.
[a. OF. legacie a legateship (see 1 b), = Sp. legacía, ad. med.L. lēgātia (see -acy) the district of a legate, f. lēgātus legate n.]
I. Legateship, legation.
†1. The function or office of a delegate or deputy. (Cf. embassy 1.) Obs.
1382Wyclif 2 Cor. v. 20 Therfore we ben sett in legacie [L. legatione fungimur]..for Crist. 1555Eden Decades 133 As I passed by in my legacie to the Soldane of Alcayr. 1563–83Foxe A. & M. II. 1178/1 Who..conferred..with Tho. Cromwell to associat him in that legacie.
†b. spec. The function or office of a papal legate; a legateship. to send in legacy: to send as legate. legacy of the cross: see legate n.1 1.
1387Trevisa Higden (Rolls) VIII. 260 Þis Baldewyn had þe office of legacie of the cros [L. crucis legatione fungens]. 1537Throgmorton Let. to Cromwell in Froude Hist. Eng. (1858) III. 228, I suppose you have a great desire for a true knowledge of his mind and acts in this legacy. a1548Hall Chron. (1809) 448 Innocent Bishop of Rome had sent in legacye Adryan of Castella. a1562G. Cavendish Wolsey (1893) 174 A strawe, quoth my lord of Norfolk, for your legacye. 1577–87Holinshed Chron. III. 920/1 Two great crosses of siluer, the one of his archbishoprike, the other of his legacie. 1726R. Fiddes Wolsey ii. 189 There were no fires in Smithfield during his [Wolsey's] Legacy.
†2. The message or business committed to a delegate or deputy. Obs.
1550Bale Eng. Votaries ii. 75 b, His legacye there perfourmed, and all his bagges wele stuffed, he returned agayne to London. 1555Eden Decades 75 Quicedus and Colmenaris were brought before the king and declared theyr legacie in his presence. 1573Satir. Poems Reform. xlii. 602 God gave to þame giftis mair large Thair legacie for till discharge. 1599Minsheu Sp. Dict., Legacia, a legacy, an embassage, a message from a Prince. c1611Chapman Iliad vii. 349 He came, and told his Legacie. 1654tr. Martini's Conq. China 113 This Legacy comming to nothing,..both parties prepare to take the Field.
†3. A body of persons sent on a mission, or as a deputation, to a sovereign, etc.; also, the act of sending such a body. (Cf. embassy 3.) Obs.
c1375Sc. Leg. Saints vii. (Jacobus Minor) 555 In þis sammyne tyme com legasy to vaspaciane reuerently. 1582N.T. (Rheims) Luke xiv. 32 Otherwise whiles he is yet farre of, sending a legacie, he asketh those things that belong to peace. 1598Hakluyt Voy. I. 125 Offa by often legacies solicited Charles le Maigne the king of France, to be his friend.
II.
†4. The action or an act of bequeathing = bequest 1. Also legacy parole, nuncupative bequest. Obs.
1494Fabyan Chron. vi. cciii. 213 Henry, than duke of Burgoyne..bequethed his dukedome vnto Kyng Robert; but the Burgonyons withstode that legacy. 1606Holland Sueton. 86 Sundry parcels gave hee besides by legacie parole.
5. A sum of money, or a specified article, given to another by will; = bequest 2. † Formerly also in generalized sense, what one bequeaths.
c1460Henryson Test. Creseid 597 Quhen he had hard hir greit infirmite Hir legacy and lamentation. 1514Pace Let. to Wolsey in Ellis Orig. Lett. Ser. iii. I. 176 To thin-tent they be not deprividde off suche legaces as my late lorde didde bequest unto them. 1577H. I. tr. Bullinger's Decades ii. v. 162 Thou art left wealthie enough by thy fathers legacie, if yt thou art godly, painful, heedful and honest. 1590Swinburne Treat. Testaments 14 A Legacie..is a gifte lefte by the deceased, to bee paide or performed by the Executor, or administrator. 1601Shakes. Jul. C. iii. ii. 141 Bequeathing it as a rich Legacie Vnto their issue. a1660C. Maund in Wood's Life (O.H.S.) I. 350 note, I have given Mr. Powell 5li. for a legacie. 1770Junius Lett. xl. 204 You have paid..his legacy, at the hazard of ruining the estate. 1818Cruise Digest (ed. 2) I. 528 It has been stated that a purchaser is bound to see to the payment of legacies. 1858Ld. St. Leonards Handy Bk. Prop. Law xx. 155 The residue greatly exceeded in value the aggregate amount of all the legacies.
b. transf. and fig.; esp. = anything handed down by an ancestor or predecessor.
c1586C'tess Pembroke Ps. lxxxix. x, His sonnes..Shall find like blisse for legacie bequeathed. 1697Dryden æneid x. 1263 Forbear thy Threats, my Bus'ness is to dye; But first receive this parting Legacy, He said; And straight a whirling Dart he sent. 1711Addison Spect. No. 166 ⁋3 Books are the legacies that a great Genius leaves to mankind. 1845Ford Handbk. Spain i. 9 One of the many fatal legacies left to Spain by the French, was [etc.]. 1850Tennyson In Mem. lxxxiv, Leaving great legacies of thought, Thy spirit should fail from off the globe. 1863W. G. Blaikie Better Days Working People v. (1864) 117 The difficulty has left sundry legacies behind it.
6. attrib. and Comb., as legacy-duty; legacy-hunter, -monger, one who pays court to old and rich persons in hope of obtaining a legacy; so legacy-hunting.
1810W. Campbell (title) The Value of Annuities..with the amount of the several Rates of *Legacy Duty, payable on the value of Annuities. 1894Lely Stat. Pract. Utility 1263 note, Foreign or colonial personalty is liable to legacy duty if [etc.].
1693T. Power in Dryden's Juvenal (1697) 304 He exercises his Satyrical Vein upon the Hæredipetæ, or *Legacy-Hunters. 1828Miss Mitford Village Ser. iii. 286 Her decline was rapid, and her latter days much tormented by legacy-hunters.
1794C. Smith Wand. Warwick 105 To stoop to the pitiful expedient of *legacy-hunting.
1647Stapylton Juvenal 287 Which made Coranus, like a common captator or *legacy-monger, court his owne sonne.
▸ U.S. (orig. College slang). An applicant to a club, university, etc., regarded preferentially because a parent or other relative belonged or belongs to that institution.
1930Helena (Montana) Daily Independent 26 Oct. 20 (caption) Fraternity Legacy. Harry the sub freshman is visiting the boys in what he calls the ‘frat house’... Harry enters college next fall. 1950Cornell Daily Sun (Ithaca, N.Y.) 21 Sept. 4/2 Legacies, freshmen whose relatives have been closely connected with the chapter. 1974J. van der Zee Greatest Men's Party on Earth xi. 146 Legacies, the sons of members who've done a lot for the Club who get in..are disappointments. 1990Sociol. of Educ. 63 231 Effect of ‘legacy status’. Children of alumni were over 2½ times as likely to be admitted as those without such a connection. 2002Philadelphia Oct. 4/2 ‘Being a legacy and having dad donate a million bucks isn't even a guarantee.’ So, how do you get into Penn?
▸ attrib. Chiefly Computing. Designating software or hardware which, although outdated or limiting, is an integral part of a computer system and difficult to replace. Also in extended use.
1989Industry Week 20 Nov. 46 A migration mechanism enabling the automated conversion of legacy databases and application systems to the integration platform. 1993Computer Weekly 14 Oct. 34/6 Too many IT people ossify with the IT they are comfortable with—they become legacy people, and that's dangerous. 1998Byte (U.K. ed.) June 89/1 The project consists of about 25 legacy fortran codes glued together by Perl. 2005Computer Weekly 29 Nov. 26/1 IT organisations should not dismiss these applications as useless legacy artifacts, destined for rip-and-replace.
▪ II. † ˈlegacy, v. Obs.
Also 6 legace, -asy.
[f. prec.]
1. trans. To send as a legate.
1563Foxe A. & M. 1373/2 You are legasyd by thautoritie of the Pope.
2. a. To give or leave as a legacy. b. To bequeath a legacy to.
1546Wills & Inv. N.C. (Surtees 1835) 126 The reste of all my goodes not beinge legaced nor gyuen. 1594Nashe Unfort. Trav. Wks. (Grosart) V. 185 Where yet liuing, hee might behold his flesh legacied amongst the foules of the aire. 1623tr. Favine's Theat. Hon. ix. vi. 392 Inheritances might be legacied to them. 1643Sir T. Browne Relig. Med. ii. §3 My acquired parts must perish with my self, nor can be Legacied among my honoured Friends. 1798Jane Austen Northang. Abb. (1833) II. xv. 206 Her intimacy there had made him seriously determined on her being handsomely legacied hereafter. 1886A. G. Murdoch Readings Ser. i. (ed. 2) 29 The ten pounds legacied to..Kate Dalrymple. |