stellionate

S1T1E1L1L1I1O1N1A1T1E1

noun

Any fraud not distinguished by a more special name; chiefly applied to sales of the same property to two different persons, or selling that for one's own which belongs to another, etc.

OriginLatin stellionatus →
Scrabble 11
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Meanings

nounstellionate (plural stellionates)

plural stellionates

  1. Ancient RomeScotlandlawAny fraud not distinguished by a more special name; chiefly applied to sales of the same property to two different persons, or selling that for one's own which belongs to another, etc.

    The crime of stellionate[…]includes every fraud which is not distinguished by a special name; but it is chiefly applied to conveyances of the same numerical right granted by the proprietor to different disponees

    1754, John Erskine of Carnock, Principles of the Law of Scotland

Origin

  1. Latinstellionatus“cozenage, trickery”
  2. Englishstellionate

From Latin stellionatus (“cozenage, trickery”), from stellio (“a newt, a crafty, knavish person”).

More words from Latin

Full word history & related roots →
Cite this entry
APA

stellionate. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/stellionate

MLA

“stellionate.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/stellionate. Accessed November 4, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “stellionate,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/stellionate.

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