Both Uses
legacy
in
Shakespeare's Julius Caesar
(Edited)
- 'tis his will:
Let but the commons hear this testament,--
Which, pardon me, I do not mean to read,--
And they would go and kiss dead Caesar's wounds,
And dip their napkins in his sacred blood;
Yea, beg a hair of him for memory,
And, dying, mention it within their wills,
Bequeathing it as a rich legacy
Unto their issue.p. 125.8 *legacy = gift given through a willeditor's notes: "Unto their issue" means "to their heirs (people who inherit from them such as children)" - But, Lepidus, go you to Caesar's house;
Fetch the will hither, and we shall determine
How to cut off some charge in legacies.p. 137.9legacies = gifts given through a willeditor's notes: Today, "cut off some charge in legacies," might be worded as "reduce the gifts given in the will."
Definitions:
-
(1)
(legacy) coming from the past or left to the futurein various senses including:
- in law -- a gift given through a will -- "She left a legacy of $10,000 to her niece."
- of a situation -- resulting from the past -- "Today's debt problem is a legacy of profligate spending by prior administrations."
- of culture -- a practice passed from one generation to the next -- "The city has along legacy of bribes and corruption."
- of technology -- something that still uses old technology -- "We're using a legacy software that only the old-timers know how to update."
- of a member or potential member of an organization -- the child of a previous member -- "She is a legacy candidate."
- (2) (meaning too rare to warrant focus)