What's the shortest word that can stand for "to leave a legacy"?
The idea is to represent the concept that while an individual's life is finite and accumulated knowledge or wisdom will disappear after death, the result of one's actions can make a difference for others in the long run, therefore yielding a positive balance of one's existence.
Some expressions may allude to this, such as the classic "standing on the shoulders of giants", but I specifically would like a short word; ideally a one-syllable one, because this is to be part of a list of such concepts that I would want as concise as possible.
Moreover, due to the way I managed to shorten the other concepts, I would need this to be a verb. For instance, some of the other terms I already have are "learn" (for "amassing and sharing knowledge", "keeping an open mind", "constant learning", "preserving curiosity"), and "join" (for "collaboration", "contributing one's 2 cents").
So far, I settled for "mark" (the verb) as a metonym for "leaving a legacy", but I am not really satisfied with it, and indeed after some testing among my friends I've confirmed that the meaning isn't immediately clear for others.
edit: replaced "transcendence" with "legacy" in the question title, as suggested by Jed Oliver's answer (and at least two commenters before). I was thinking about the "transcending death" meaning, but admittedly, it wasn't very clear.
Solution 1:
"plant", "seed" or "sow" all convey the thought of starting something that will continue to grow, since you requested a short verb.
Another concept is to "leave a legacy" but I don't know of a single verb that conveys that exact thought.
Solution 2:
If you leave a legacy in your will, you bequeath something to someone.
Solution 3:
As in bestow to mankind? Does that provide the right context?
Solution 4:
How about abide?
• continue without fading or being lost.
ELU: “The Dude abides” — what does “abide” mean in that context?
Solution 5:
Newton begat the Calculus. From Wiktionary:
beget (third-person singular simple present begets, present participle begetting, simple past begot or begat, past participle begotten)
- To cause; to produce.