Will, bequeath, devise, leave, legate all mean to give a part or the whole of one’s possessions to another by one’s last will and testament.
Will implies the provision or the existence of a legal instrument (a will ) disposing of one’s property after one’s death.
Bequeath is much used in wills by the testator and is frequent in legal, historical, and literary use; it may imply nothing more than a proved intention (as by a will or a definite oral or written statement).
In legal use bequeath is commonly distinguished from devise , the one implying a gift of personalty, the other a gift of realty.
Leave is the common and ordinary unspecific term for any of the preceding terms.
Legate is not manifestly different from bequeath except that it invariably implies a formal will.