Revendication

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A formal assertion or demand made to establish or recover a right or ownership over something
2. The act of claiming or insisting on one's legal or moral rights, often involving property or status
3. A statement or action asserting a right to possess or control something, usually to enforce entitlement

Etymology: Its ancestry runs through Roman courtrooms. Latin "vindicare" meant to lay claim to something, and a "vindicatio" was the formal legal action by which a person asserted ownership of a disputed thing. The verb later broadened to mean avenging a wrong or defending a cause, which is why English "vindicate" still covers both clearing a name and upholding a right. Adding the prefix "re-" to "vindicare" produced Latin "revindicare", which developed into the French verb "revendiquer". The French noun "revendication" comes from that verb, and English took the word from French, so it carries the sense of a formal, assertive demand.

Synonyms: claim, assertion, demand, reclamation, entitlement

Antonyms: abandonment, relinquishment, surrender, waiver, dismissal