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 September 3, 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.
Corpus desk
Index EN-escheat · escheat · English
escheat · unranked · 0 variants · 0 confusables
- FREQ-UNRANKED Unranked
- LEN-LONG 7 letters
- VOW-3 3 vowels
- CONFUS-0 No pairs
- VAR-0 0 variants
- BOOK-THIN "E" thin
- PHOTO-UNK Peer pending
Read with this headword: Spelling guide for this pattern
Desk codes from Wiktionary headword shape, FrequencyWords rank tier, confusable-pair count, generated misspelling depth, letter-cohort book size, and photo-finish peer. Not a difficulty grade.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | escheat |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /ɪsˈt͡ʃiːt/ |
| Letters | 7 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Long-tail rank of “escheat” in English
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.
Recorded use
Wiktionary examplesThese source excerpts show how escheat appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.
Approching, with bold words and bitter threat, / Bad that same boaster, as he mote, on high / To leaue to him that Lady for excheat, / Or bide him battell without further treat.
And by my ruines thinkes to make them great: / To make one great by others losse, is bad excheat
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.