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disinherit

[dis-in-her-it]
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verb (used with object)
  1. Law. to exclude from inheritance (an heir or a next of kin).
  2. to deprive of a heritage, country, right, privilege, etc.: the disinherited peoples of the earth.
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Origin of disinherit

First recorded in 1525–35; dis-1 + inherit
Related formsdis·in·her·i·tance, nounun·dis·in·her·it·ed, adjective
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Examples from the Web for disinherit

Contemporary Examples

Historical Examples

  • And now you come and say: 'Engage yourself to him—and I'll disinherit him at once.

    The Coryston Family

    Mrs. Humphry Ward

  • A father had taken offence at his son, and threatened to disinherit him.

    Bunyan

    James Anthony Froude

  • And as for the money and all that, if you disinherit her, or—or whatever it is they do—we don't care.

    The Portygee

    Joseph Crosby Lincoln

  • "Your lordship had threatened to disinherit me if I married her," said Rotherby.

    The Lion's Skin

    Rafael Sabatini

  • I'd ha' married the girl in earnest, but for your threats to disinherit me.

    The Lion's Skin

    Rafael Sabatini

British Dictionary definitions for disinherit

disinherit

verb (tr)
  1. law to deprive (an heir or next of kin) of inheritance or right to inherit
  2. to deprive of a right or heritage
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Derived Formsdisinheritance, noun
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

Word Origin and History for disinherit

v.

mid-15c., from dis- "not" + inherit. Related: Disinherited; disinheriting. Replaced earlier desherit (c.1300), from Old French desheriter.

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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper