disinherit · verb — to exclude from inheritance; to disown. It carries an Arena rating of 1532, earned across 57 head-to-head judged battles.
Definition from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 3.0).
Among words judged in Lexicurio's Arena, disinherit ranks #2,019 of 17,162 for Most Elegant Words, #2,910 of 17,171 for Scariest Words, #3,035 of 17,188 for Words That Escaped Their Books, #3,376 of 17,187 for Most Malleable Words.
disinherit is pronounced /ˌdɪsɪnˈhɛɹɪt/.
Why “disinherit” is a great word
DISINHERIT — [Verb] To deliberately exclude someone, especially a relative, from inheriting one's property or title. From Middle English *disenheriten*, formed within English from the prefix *dis-* (expressing reversal or deprivation) + the verb *inherit* (from Latin *inhereditare*, 'to appoint as heir'). First attested in the 15th century. Unlike "disown," which severs a familial bond, or "bequeath," which is the direct act of giving, to disinherit is a surgical, legal excision from an unbroken line. It is the deliberate black line through a name in a will, the silent space where an heir once stood in the ledger, and the final click of a vault door on a fortune—a testament to a future from which one is forever excised.
❧ Essay by Lexicurio’s AI · definition, etymology & citations from published sources
Etymology
From Middle English disenheriten, equivalent to dis- + inherit.
verb
- To exclude from inheritance; to disown.e.g.“Excuses for disinheriting people, that we swear we're not making up”
Definitions & examples from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 3.0).
Words closest in meaning
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