escheat

[ es-cheet ]

/ ɛsˈtʃit /

Law.

noun

the reverting of property to the state or some agency of the state, or, as in England, to the lord of the fee or to the crown, when there is a failure of persons legally qualified to inherit or to claim.

the right to take property subject to escheat.

verb (used without object)

to revert by escheat, as to the crown or the state.

verb (used with object)

to make an escheat of; confiscate.

Nearby words

eschar, escharotic, escharotomy, eschatology, eschaton, escheat, escheatage, escheator, eschenbach, wolfram von, escher, escher figure

Origin of escheat

1250–1300; Middle English eschete < Old French eschete, escheoite, feminine past participle of escheoir < Vulgar Latin *excadēre to fall to a person's share, equivalent to Latin ex- ex-¹ + cadere to fall (Vulgar Latin cadēre)

Related formses·cheat·a·ble, adjectiveun·es·cheat·a·ble, adjectiveun·es·cheat·ed, adjective

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for escheat

It will be remembered, also, that the animals which the Scotch law forfeited were escheat to the king.
The Common Law|Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr.
Slavery did not escheat to the English government upon the expiration of its authority in North America.
History of the Negro Race in America From 1619 to 1880. Vol 1|George W. Williams
And we will hold the escheat in the same manner in which the baron held it.
Our Legal Heritage, 5th Ed.|S. A. Reilly
Freeholds are declared to be a necessary element, and should they all escheat, the manor would be only a reputed one.
Villainage in England|Paul Vinogradoff

The most important of these was "escheat," the right of resuming possession of land when its holder died without an heir.
A History of England|Charles Oman

British Dictionary definitions for escheat

escheat

/ (ɪsˈtʃiːt) law /

noun

(in England before 1926) the reversion of property to the Crown in the absence of legal heirs

(in feudal times) the reversion of property to the feudal lord in the absence of legal heirs or upon outlawry of the tenant

the property so reverting

verb

to take (land) by escheat or (of land) to revert by escheat

Derived Formsescheatable, adjectiveescheatage, noun

Word Origin for escheat

C14: from Old French eschete, from escheoir to fall to the lot of, from Late Latin excadere (unattested), from Latin cadere to fall

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 escheat

escheat

the reverting of land to a king or lord in certain cases, early 14c., from Anglo-French eschete (late 13c.), from Old French eschete "succession, inheritance," originally fem. past participle of escheoir, from Late Latin *excadere "to fall out," from Latin ex- "out, away" (see ex-) + cadere "to fall" (see case (n.1)). As a verb, from late 14c. Related: Escheated; escheating.