Forfeiter

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A person who loses rights or possessions as a result of not complying with legal standards or commitments
2. An individual who relinquishes claims or benefits due to noncompliance with contractual obligations or rules
3. A person who gives up possessions or rights due to failing to adhere to agreed-upon rules or laws

Etymology: "Forfeiter" is a plain agent noun: a person who forfeits, formed by adding the suffix "-er" to the verb "forfeit." The suffix turns the action into a doer, so a forfeiter is one who has given up a right, property, or claim, typically through failing to meet a legal obligation or a set condition. The verb it rests on has a longer and more tangled past. "Forfeit" came into English from Old French "forfait," a past participle of "forfaire," meaning to transgress or commit a misdeed. Its earliest English senses were tied to wrongdoing, and the legal sense of losing something as a penalty grew from that idea of offense and punishment. A forfeiter, then, is someone who has been penalized for a breach of terms rather than simply someone who has lost something.

Synonyms: defaulter, loser, surrenderer, renouncer, abandoner