escheat

Etymology

From Middle English eschete, from Anglo-Norman escheat, Old French eschet, escheit, escheoit (“that which falls to one”), from the past participle of escheoir (“to fall”), from Vulgar Latin *excadēre, from Latin ex + cadere (“fall”).

noun

1. (law) The return of property of a deceased person to the state (originally to a feudal lord) where there are no legal heirs or claimants.
2. (law) The property so reverted.
3. (obsolete) Plunder, booty.
4. That which falls to one; a reversion or return.

verb

1. (transitive) To put (land, property) in escheat; to confiscate.
   Failure to perform duties opened the culprit to charges of ‘felony’ (felonia), providing grounds for the king to escheat the fief. 2016, Peter H. Wilson, The Holy Roman Empire, Penguin, published 2017, page 329
2. (intransitive) To revert to a state or lord because its previous owner died without an heir.