defeasance
Americannoun
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a rendering null and void.
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a condition on the performance of which a deed or other instrument is defeated or rendered void.
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a collateral deed or other writing embodying such a condition.
noun
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the act or process of rendering null and void; annulment
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a condition, the fulfilment of which renders a deed void
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the document containing such a condition
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Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of defeasance
1400–50; late Middle English defesance < Anglo-French defesaunce, Old French defesance, equivalent to desfes- (past participle stem of desfaire to undo; see defeat) + -ance -ance
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
The defeasance agent’s guarantee to remit the remaining mortgage payments to the mortgage servicer on time and in full substitutes for the home seller’s liability.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Dec. 26, 2025
The defeasance account manager collects this market value at settlement, and invests the proceeds in the appropriate U.S.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Dec. 26, 2025
The defeasance transaction involves no “uncompensated taking” and doesn’t generate a financial loss for a mortgage lender.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Dec. 26, 2025
The defeasance manager provides the seller or settlement agent with a fair-market valuation of the remaining payments on a home’s outstanding mortgage, determined using the current market prices of a portfolio of Treasury securities.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Dec. 26, 2025
Neither of these writers gives us a full copy of the defeasance.
From The History of England from the First Invasion by the Romans to the Accession of King George the Fifth Volume 8 by Hilaire Belloc
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
