stellionate

American  

[stel-yuh-nit, -neyt] / ˈstɛl yə nɪt, -ˌneɪt /

noun

Civil Law, Scots Law.

1. any crime of unspecified class that involves fraud, especially one that involves the selling of the same property to different people.

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Etymology

Origin of stellionate

1615–25; < Latin stelliōnātus deceit, underhandedness, equivalent to stelliōn- (stem of stelliō ) lizard, crafty person + -ātus -ate ³

Example Sentences

It existed, indeed, in ancient Rome, and was comprehended under the general term of stellionate, from stelio, a little subtle serpent, common in Italy.

From Project Gutenberg

Thus a too artful fraud causes the aggravating crime called stellionate, and a cheat becomes a forger when he has the cunning to sap the very foundations of our security in written documents.

From Project Gutenberg

This sale is really a stellionate and an extortion; but by the legal fiction of the right of property, this same sale, severely punished, we know not why, in other cases, is a source of profit and value to the proprietor.

From Project Gutenberg