defeasance

D2E1F4E1A1S1A1N1C3E1
UK/dɪˈfiːzəns/

noun

Destruction, defeat, overthrow.

OriginAnglo-Norman defeasaunce →
UncommonScrabble 16
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Meanings

noundefeasance (countable and uncountable, plural defeasances)

plural defeasances · alternative defeasaunce

  1. archaiccountableuncountableDestruction, defeat, overthrow.

    that hoarie king, with all his traine, / Being arriued, where that champion stout / After his foes defeasance did remaine […]

    1590, Edmund Spenser, “Book I, Canto XII”, in The Faerie Queene. […], London: […] [John Wolfe] for William Ponsonbie, →OCLC
  2. UScountableuncountablelawThe rendering void of a contract or deed; an annulment or abrogation.
verbdefeasance (third-person singular simple present defeasances, present participle defeasancing, simple past and past participle defeasanced)

present singular third person defeasances · participle present defeasancing · participle past defeasanced · past defeasanced · alternative defeasaunce

  1. UStransitivelawTo void; to annul.

Origin

  1. Anglo-Normandefeasaunce
  2. Englishdefeasance

From Anglo-Norman defeasaunce.

More words from Anglo-Norman

Full word history & related roots →

Translations

Bulgarian отмяна, анулиране
  • отмяна (otmjana)annulment
  • анулиране (anulirane)annulment
Greek αντέγγραφο
  • αντέγγραφο (anténgrafo)annulment
Russian аннули́рование
  • аннули́рование (annulírovanije)annulment
Cite this entry
APA

defeasance. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/defeasance

MLA

“defeasance.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/defeasance. Accessed November 3, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “defeasance,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/defeasance.

Source: defeasance on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.