eviction

[ih-vik-shuhn]

noun

1. the act of forcing a tenant, or sometimes a squatter, to vacate a property (often used attributively).

   A local mother and her two daughters were given a court-ordered eviction, with four days to leave their apartment.

   When the rent got far enough behind, the landlord finally sent the tenants an eviction notice.

2. the act of forcing someone to leave; expulsion.

   He is facing potential eviction from the Senate for failure to pay the costs of his unsuccessful legal battle.

Other Word Forms

• noneviction noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of eviction¹

First recorded in 1450–1500, for an earlier sense; from Latin ēvictiōn-, stem of ēvictiō “recovery of one's property by law,” from ēvincere “to overcome, conquer”; evict ( def. ), -ion ( def. )

Example Sentences

Guests who had lived in Sonder properties for months or even years inundated front-desk workers with questions, even approaching police about eviction laws.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

Vasquez said the news of the demolition and eviction came as a shock to her and her mother.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

It has been described as the biggest shake-up of renting in England in more than 30 years and includes changes to fixed contracts, a ban on no-fault evictions and redress for "excessive" rent increases.

Read more on BBC

More than 11,000 households in England had their homes repossessed by bailiffs following a section 21 eviction in the year to June.

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California defense attorneys facing the threat of eviction.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

Related Words

• dispossession www.thesaurus.com
• ejection 
• expulsion 
• ouster 
• removal 

When To Use

What is an eviction moratorium?

An eviction moratorium is an order that prohibits, under certain circumstances, landlords and property owners from evicting tenants, typically for not paying rent.In 2020, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) issued an eviction moratorium during the COVID-19 pandemic. The order was intended to prevent people from losing a place to stay due to inability to pay rent upon losing income—ultimately to prevent further spread of the virus. The CDC’s moratorium did not release tenants from their requirement to pay rent and did not prohibit eviction for reasons beyond failure to pay rent, such as criminal activity.The first CDC moratorium was issued on September 4, 2020, and was extended multiple times before expiring on July 31, 2021. At the time of its expiration, searches on Dictionary.com for the words eviction and moratorium increased.On August 3, 2021, the CDC issued another eviction moratorium in response to a rise in cases related to the Delta variant of the COVID-19 virus. The second moratorium was narrower, only applying to counties with significantly high rates of COVID-19 infections. It was set to be in effect until October 3, 2021.