escheat

Meaning

Noun

1. (countable, uncountable) The return of property of a deceased person to the state (originally to a feudal lord) where there are no legal heirs or claimants.
2. (countable, uncountable) The property so reverted.
3. (countable, obsolete, uncountable) Plunder, booty.
4. (countable, uncountable) That which falls to one; a reversion or return.

Verb

1. (transitive) To put (land, property) in escheat; to confiscate.
2. (intransitive) To revert to a state or lord because its previous owner died without an heir.

Synonyms

confiscate

Translations

aubaine

déshérence

الإستيراث

devlete kalmak

zeamet sahibine vermek

vervallen

Pronounced as (IPA)

/əsˈt͡ʃiːt/

Etymology

Inherited from Middle English: eschete

In summary

From Middle English eschete, from Anglo-Norman escheat, Old French eschet, escheit, escheoit (“that which falls to one”), from the past participle of escheoir (“to fall”), from Vulgar Latin *excadēre, from Latin ex + cadere (“fall”).