bona vacantia

[ boh-nah vah-kahn-tee-ah; English boh-nuhvuh-kan-tee-uh ]

/ ˈboʊ nɑ vɑˈkɑn ti ɑ; English ˈboʊ nə vəˈkæn ti ə /

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noun Law.

property without an apparent owner or claimant.

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His boss, whom he admires, is waiting to meet with him about the big project.

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Origin of bona vacantia

Borrowed into English from Latin around 1750–60

Words nearby bona vacantia

Bonaparte, Bonapartism, Bonapartist, bon appétit, Bonar Law, bona vacantia, Bonaventura, bonaventure, bonavist, bonbon, bonbonnière

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use bona vacantia in a sentence

Another sent back a flat-screen television with a bona fide tombstone within.
The Insane $11 Billion Scam at Retailers’ Return Desks|M.L. Nestel|December 19, 2014|DAILY BEAST
The Facebook co-founder and his politically ambitious husband embodied all the attributes of a bona fide “gay power couple.”
The Rise and Fall of Chris Hughes and Sean Eldridge, America’s Worst Gay Power Couple|James Kirchick|December 9, 2014|DAILY BEAST
A conservative coloring book publisher is out with a new title imagining the tea party heartthrob as a bona fide superhero.
Ted Cruz saves America in This Right-Wing Coloring Book|Asawin Suebsaeng|November 13, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Stephen Hawking is not only a bona fide genius, but also one of the most resilient men on the planet.
The Other Side of Stephen Hawking: Strippers, Aliens, and Disturbing Abuse Claims|Marlow Stern|November 6, 2014|DAILY BEAST

By the time the CFDA awards rolled round in early 1994, Moss was a bona fide star.
Sex, Drugs, and Kate Moss: Secrets of a Wild Supermodel|Tom Sykes|October 9, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Nor can other creditors through filing objections to a claim prevent a bona fide claimant from voting.
Putnam's Handy Law Book for the Layman|Albert Sidney Bolles
The fact that you are here tells me that the wireless you got on the ship was not only bona fide but important.
The Everlasting Arms|Joseph Hocking
Such relief was to be granted with due consideration and the bona fide intention of recovering.
English Poor Law Policy|Sidney Webb
It was an instantaneous apparition of absolute bodily substance, which carried its own warrant of complete bona fides.
Devil-Worship in France|Arthur Edward Waite
If we leave Philippeville in the evening, we find ourselves next morning in the handsome roadstead of Bona.
Lippincott's Magazine of Popular Literature and Science, Volume 11, No. 24, March, 1873|Various

British Dictionary definitions for bona vacantia

bona vacantia

/ (ˈbəʊnə vəˈkæntɪə) /

pl n

law unclaimed goods

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012