Replevying

Part of speech: verb

Definitions

1. Taking back seized property from a party by posting a bond to secure its return pending a court decision
2. Recovering goods that have been distrained by giving security and pursuing a legal action to reclaim them
3. Obtaining the release of seized possessions through a bond while a lawsuit over their ownership proceeds

Etymology: Replevying is the form of "replevy," a legal verb meaning to recover goods that have been seized by taking them back on the strength of a pledge or security. The verb entered English from Old French "replevir," meaning "recover," built from the prefix re- and "plevir." That second element is probably a Germanic word that also gave English "pledge," so the legal idea of recovery rests on the same notion of a promise or guarantee that the modern word carries. The chain runs from a bail-like procedure into a broader sense of getting something back. A person whose goods had been distrained could, by giving security that they would be pursued at law, have them returned while the dispute went on, and the action of doing this became the replevin the verb names. The participle is the form used for the act in progress, as in a court case where someone is replevying property.

Synonyms: reclaim, redeem