replevin

R1E1P3L1E1V4I1N1
/ɹɪˈplɛvɪn/

noun

An action to recover personal property unlawfully taken, especially that seized by way of distraint; the writ or procedure of such action.

OriginOld French replevir →
UncommonScrabble 13
Ask AI about this wordChatGPTClaudePerplexityGoogle AIGrok

Meanings

nounreplevin (countable and uncountable, plural replevins)

plural replevins

  1. countableuncountablelawAn action to recover personal property unlawfully taken, especially that seized by way of distraint; the writ or procedure of such action.
verbreplevin (third-person singular simple present replevins, present participle replevining, simple past and past participle replevined)

present singular third person replevins · participle present replevining · participle past replevined · past replevined

  1. transitiveTo replevy.

    Arranged about her are artificial flowers that appear in their varied pale and pastel colors to be faded from the sun. As if perhaps replevined from some desert grave.

    1998, Cormac McCarthy, Cities of the Plain

Origin

  1. Old Frenchreplevir“recover”
  2. Englishreplevin

Anglo-Norman, from Old French replevir (“recover”), from re- + plevir (apparently from a Germanic word which was also the source of English pledge).

More words from Old French

Full word history & related roots →

Translations

Spanish acción reivindicatoria, reivindicación
  • acción reivindicatorialegal action
  • reivindicaciónlegal action

Rhymes & wordplay

Rhymes with replevin

levinDevin
All rhymes →
Cite this entry
APA

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

MLA

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

Chicago

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

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