Etymologically
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foreclosure

This is the current revision of this entry, as edited by bogdan on 31 October 2026 at 15:52. This address is a permanent link to this version.
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Pronunciation

  • /fɔːɹˈkləʊʒ.əɹ/[1]

Etymology

It is formed from English foreclose + -ure;[2][3][4] the Shorter Oxford analyses it as fore- and closure.[5] The verb foreclose is from Middle English forclosen (“to exclude from an inheritance”), from Old French forclos (“shut out”), the past participle of forclore (“to exclude”),[6][2] formed from fors- (“outside”), from Latin forīs, and clore (“to close”), from claudō.[6] According to the OED some of its senses arose from or were influenced by the identification of its prefix with for- (compare Old English forclȳsan (“to close, stop up”)) or with fore-, as in preclude.[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

A legal proceeding that ends a mortgagor's right to redeem a mortgaged estate: 1713 according to Merriam-Webster,[7][8] 1728 according to the OED and Etymonline, in Vernon's law reports.[2][3]

Semantic evolution

The noun belongs from the start to the law of mortgages.[2][7] The verb it comes from had meant to shut out or exclude since 1413 and to preclude since the 16th century,[2] and was first used of barring a right of redemption in 1704 and of barring the mortgagor himself in 1728, the year of the OED's first record of the noun.[2] Black's Law Dictionary describes it as a proceeding brought by the lender, either to take title to the property or to force its sale to pay the unpaid debt.[9]

Timeline

  • 1713 – first known use according to Merriam-Webster.[7]
  • 1728 – the foreclosing of a mortgage.[2][3]

Meanings

Noun

  1. A legal proceeding by which a lender ends a borrower's right to redeem a mortgaged property after the borrower fails to pay, usually to take the property or force its sale: After losing his job he faced foreclosure on the house.[9][7][2]
  2. An act or instance of foreclosing.[7][10]

Word family

  • antiforeclosure
  • nonforeclosure

References

  1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ a b c Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  4. ^ Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
  5. ^ Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
  6. ^ a b The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (online 2024), 5th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
  7. ^ a b c d e Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  8. ^ Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary (2003), 11th ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  9. ^ a b Garner, Bryan A., ed. (2004), Black's Law Dictionary, 8th ed., St. Paul, Minn.: Thomson West
  10. ^ The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (1992), 3rd ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin