# legacy

Pronunciation: say "LEG-uh-see" US/UK /ˈlɛɡəsi/, AUS /ˈleɡəsi/

## Noun

1. Something handed down from a predecessor or inherited from earlier times.
   - Simple: Something passed down to us from people or events in the past.
   - _The civil rights movement left a lasting legacy of social change._
   - _Generations later, the architect's buildings remain her most visible legacy._
2. Money or property left to someone under the terms of a will.
   - Simple: Money or things left to a person in someone's will.
   - _Under his father's will, each grandchild received a modest legacy._
   - _The will divided the estate into several legacies for distant relatives._
4. A college applicant descended from a graduate of the same institution, given preference in admissions.
   - Simple: A student whose parent or relative went to the same school, given an easier chance to get in.
   - _Admissions officers marked her file as a legacy because both parents had graduated there._
   - _Critics argue that favoring legacies undermines fairness in college admissions._

## Adjective

3. Left over from an earlier time; old and no longer current, though often still in use.
   - Simple: Old and from an earlier time, not the newest kind, but still being used.
   - _Migrating data off the legacy platform took the team several months._
   - _Much of the bank's legacy code dates back to the 1980s._

## Origin

This word traces back through Middle English "legacie" and Old French "legacie" and Medieval Latin "lēgātia," all from the Latin "lēgātum."

Source: DictionaryAI, https://dictionaryai.com/define/legacy (written from Wiktionary data, CC BY-SA 4.0: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/).