Definition of SPOLIATION

spoliation

Plural: spoliations

Noun

  • (law) the intentional destruction of a document or an alteration of it that destroys its value as evidence
  • the act of stripping and taking by force
  • The action of spoliating, or forcibly seizing property; pillage, plunder; also, the state of having property forcibly seized; (countable) an instance of this; a robbery, a seizure.
  • The action of destroying or ruining; destruction, ruin.
  • The action of an incumbent (“holder of an ecclesiastical benefice”) wrongfully depriving another of the emoluments of a benefice.
  • A lawsuit brought or writ issued by an incumbent against another, claiming that the latter has wrongfully taken the emoluments of a benefice.
  • The intentional destruction of, or tampering with, a document so as to impair its evidentiary value.
  • The systematic forcible seizure of property during a crisis or state of unrest such as that caused by war, now regarded as a crime; looting, pillage, plunder; (countable) an instance of this.
  • The government-sanctioned action or practice of plundering neutral ships at sea; (countable) an instance of this.

Examples

  • Spoliation of Jewish property by Nazi authorities occurred on a large scale during World War II.

Origin / Etymology

From Late Middle English spoliacioun (“looting, robbery, theft; an instance of this; (ecclesiastical) wrongful deprivation of the emoluments of a benefice due to another”), from Anglo-Norman spoliacioun, espolïacion, and directly from their etymon Latin spoliātiōn-, the oblique stem of spoliātiō (“plundering, robbing”), from spoliāre + -tiō (suffix forming nouns denoting a process, action, or result of an action). Spoliāre is the present active infinitive of spoliō (“to deprive or strip of clothing or covering, unclothe, uncover; (by extension) to pillage, plunder; etc.”), from spolium (“hide or skin stripped off an animal; (by extension) booty, spoil; etc.”) (possibly related to Proto-Indo-European *(s)pel- (“to rend, tear; to split”)) + -ō (suffix forming regular first-conjugation verbs). The English word was probably also influenced by French spoliation.

Scrabble Score: 12

spoliation: valid Scrabble (US) TWL Word
spoliation: valid Scrabble Word in Merriam-Webster MW Dictionary
spoliation: valid Scrabble Word in International Collins CSW Dictionary

Words With Friends Score: 15

spoliation: valid Words With Friends Word