Quitclaim

Part of speech: verb

Pronunciation: /ˈkwɪtkleɪm/

Definitions

1. A legal instrument allowing an individual to transfer their rights or interests in real estate to another party, typically without any assurances regarding the title's validity or quality
2. This type of document enables one to relinquish their claims to property, offering no guarantees about ownership or potential encumbrances
3. A document used to transfer property rights from one person to another without ensuring the legitimacy of those rights or related liabilities

Etymology: "Quitclaim" is a legal term built from two older words that once meant almost the reverse of what they do now. "Quit" came into English from Old French "quite," meaning free or released from an obligation, and in legal use it described someone who had been cleared of a debt or duty. "Claim" meant a demand for something one believes is owed. Put together in Anglo-Norman legal French as "quiteclamer," the phrase "clamer quite" meant to claim quit, that is, to renounce a claim so that the other party is released from it. The verb reached Middle English as "quiteclaymen," and its sense has stayed remarkably steady: to give up any right or interest in a piece of property, without promising that the title itself is sound. That last point is what distinguishes it from a warranty deed, which guarantees ownership. A quitclaim only transfers whatever the giver happens to have, which may be nothing at all.

Synonyms: relinquish, surrender

Antonyms: claim, assert