foreclosure
/fɔːɹˈkləʊʒ.əɹ/ noun
Forms foreclosures
- noun (law) The proceeding, by a creditor, to regain property or other collateral following a default on mortgage payments.
- noun (psychoanalysis) The absence of a symbolic father for a fatherless child, as a cause for psychosis.
Etymology
From foreclose by analogy with closure, equivalent to fore- + closure.
Webster’s 1913
- noun The act or process of foreclosing; a proceeding which bars or extinguishes a mortgager's right of redeeming a mortgaged estate.
Sources: Wiktionary · Webster’s 1913 — from the Wiktionary entry “foreclosure”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details