Adempt

Part of speech: verb

Definitions

1. Revoked, withdrawn, or taken away, particularly referring to a legacy or gift that is no longer available under a will
2. Canceled or removed, especially describing a bequest or benefit in a will that has been rendered void
3. Taken back or made ineffective, most often in relation to something that was previously granted in a testamentary context

Etymology: Legal writers in ancient Rome had a precise vocabulary for undoing a gift in a will, and "adempt" comes straight from it. The English word descends from Latin "ademptum," the neuter form of the past participle of "adimo," meaning "to take away." Its core sense is that a bequest, once left to someone, has been revoked before the testator died, so the gift never takes effect. In English the term stays almost entirely within testamentary law. A legacy is described as adempted when the testator has disposed of the property during their lifetime, or otherwise acted so that the original gift no longer stands. The word thus keeps the Roman picture of a hand reaching back to remove something already offered, and it still applies to that narrow legal situation rather than to ordinary speech.