Abalienate

Part of speech: verb

Pronunciation: /æbˈeɪl.jəˌneɪt/

Definitions

1. To transfer property or ownership rights to another person through a legal transaction
2. To remove one's rights or interests in property or an item by legally transferring them to someone else
3. To relinquish control or title to an asset, thereby passing it to a different individual through legal means

Etymology: Abalienate is a legal term, and its history is mostly a matter of Latin grammar. It comes from "abaliēnātus," the past participle of "abaliēnō," a verb meaning to alienate or remove. That verb is built from "ab," meaning away or from, and "aliēnō," to estrange, which itself derives from "aliēnus," foreign or alien. Behind that lies "alius," meaning other or another, so the root idea is something belonging to someone else. The sense that matters in English is the transfer of ownership. In Roman usage, a thing could be handed over to another person, and the word carried that notion of making something pass out of one's own possession. English took the term to describe the formal legal act of giving up one's rights or interests in property, so the same idea of moving something to another's ownership survives intact.

Synonyms: alienate, transfer, divest

Antonyms: retain, acquire, keep