demise

Etymology

Borrowed from Middle French démise, the feminine singular past participle of démettre (“to put down, relinquish”); from Latin dēmissa, feminine singular of perfect passive participle of dēmittō. The senses "death, end" derive by way of euphemism from the legal sense, as a person's death was a common way that the legal demise could be accomplished.

noun

1. (law) The conveyance or transfer of an estate, either in fee for life or for years, most commonly the latter.
2. Transmission by formal act or conveyance to an heir or successor; transference; especially, the transfer or transmission of the crown or royal authority to a successor.
   Immediately upon the Royal Assent being signified to this Act the Instrument of Abdication executed by His present Majesty on the tenth day of December, nineteen hundred and thirty-six, set out in the Schedule to this Act, shall have effect, and thereupon His Majesty shall cease to be King and there shall be a demise of the Crown, and accordingly the member of the Royal Family then next in succession to the Throne shall succeed thereto and to all the rights, privileges, and dignities thereunto belonging. 1936, “His Majesty's Declaration of Abdication Act 1936”, in legislation.gov.uk, retrieved 2022-12-09
3. (countable) Death.
4. (countable) The end of something, in a negative sense; downfall.
   The lack of funding ultimately led to the project's demise.

verb

1. (transitive, obsolete, law) To give.
2. (transitive, law) To convey, as by will or lease.
3. (transitive, law) To transmit by inheritance.
4. (intransitive, law) To pass by inheritance.
5. (intransitive) To die.