Source : Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)

Legacy \Leg"a*cy\ (l[e^]g"[.a]*s[y^]), n.; pl. {Legacies}
   (-s[i^]z). [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.

            My legacy and message wherefore I am sent into the
            world.                                --Tyndale.

            He came and told his legacy.          --Chapman.

   {Legacy duty}, a tax paid to government on legacies.
      --Wharton.

   {Legacy hunter}, one who flatters and courts any one for the
      sake of a legacy.