escheat
/ɪsˈt͡ʃiːt/
"escheat" is a 7-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“escheat” is uncommon English (outside the top frequency list), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.
- Unranked
- below top-frequency English
- 7
- letters
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - The return of property of a deceased person to the state (originally to a feudal lord) where there are no legal heirs or claimants.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | escheat |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /ɪsˈt͡ʃiːt/ |
| Letters | 7 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “escheat” sits in English frequency
Rare enough to double-check
escheat is uncommon English outside the top frequency list, classed as anoun, transcribed /ɪsˈt͡ʃiːt/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 4 senses are on record.
escheat has no tracked misspelling variants, and the word's spelling is regular enough that our generator found nothing worth flagging. Our confusable-pair dataset has no match for it, since nothing in our dataset looks or sounds close enough to cause mix-ups.
Etymologically, the entry records: 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”). The correct English form is escheat, spelled E-S-C-H-E-A-T.
Definition
- 1The return of property of a deceased person to the state (originally to a feudal lord) where there are no legal heirs or claimants.
- 2The property so reverted.
- 3Plunder, booty.
- 4That which falls to one; a reversion or return.
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”).
This word in other languages
Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.
Frequently Asked Questions
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Using “escheat”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is E-S-C-H-E-A-T - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /ɪsˈt͡ʃiːt/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Browse more English words and confusable pairs in the same reference. English words
Data Source
Wiktionary (via kaikki.org), licensed under CC BY-SA & GFDL. Word ordering uses an open word-frequency list; misspelling variants are generated by edit-distance from the correct headword.