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Spoliation
Definitions
- 1 The action of spoliating, or forcibly seizing property; pillage, plunder; also, the state of having property forcibly seized; (countable) an instance of this; a robbery, a seizure. archaic, uncountable
"The weapons of the empire had been […] an unequalled genius for organization, and an uniform system of external law and order. This was generally a real boon to conquered nations, because it substituted a fixed and regular spoliation for the fortuitous and arbitrary miseries of savage warfare: […]"
- 2 the act of stripping and taking by force wordnet
- 3 The action of destroying or ruining; destruction, ruin. broadly, uncountable
"Marks of violence were visible in every part; a cupboard had been forced open, and the contents of a chest of drawers were scattered about the room. The shop bore even more evident signs of spoliation—that reckless wastefulness which seems the constant companion of cruelty; but little of the grocery appeared to have been touched, excepting the sweet things."
- 4 (law) the intentional destruction of a document or an alteration of it that destroys its value as evidence wordnet
- 5 The action of an incumbent (“holder of an ecclesiastical benefice”) wrongfully depriving another of the emoluments of a benefice. broadly, historical, uncountable
"A Benefice is ſaid to be vacant de Facto, and not de Jure, vvhen the Poſſeſſion thereof is loſt by Spoliation or Intruſion, and the like: […]"
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- 6 A lawsuit brought or writ issued by an incumbent against another, claiming that the latter has wrongfully taken the emoluments of a benefice. broadly, countable, historical
"[W]here one ſaith to the Patron, that his Clerk is dead, whereupon he preſents another: there the firſt Incumbent, who was ſuppoſed to be dead, may have a Spoliation againſt the other."
- 7 The intentional destruction of, or tampering with, a document so as to impair its evidentiary value. broadly, uncountable
"Plaintiff, a child injured during birth, alleges that defendant hospital intentionally destroyed evidence relevant to his malpractice action against the hospital. He seeks to bring a separate tort cause of action against defendant hospital for its alleged intentional spoliation—that is, intentional destruction or suppression—of evidence. […] [W]e conclude that when the alleged intentional spoliation is committed by a party to the underlying cause of action to which the evidence is relevant and when the spoliation is or reasonably should have been discovered before the conclusion of the underlying litigation, it is preferable to reply on existing nontort remedies rather than creating a tort remedy."
- 8 The systematic forcible seizure of property during a crisis or state of unrest such as that caused by war, now regarded as a crime; looting, pillage, plunder; (countable) an instance of this. broadly, uncountable
"Spoliation of Jewish property by Nazi authorities occurred on a large scale during World War II."
- 9 The government-sanctioned action or practice of plundering neutral ships at sea; (countable) an instance of this. broadly, historical, uncountable
"Immediately after the rupture with Great Britain in February, 1793, France, by waging war with nearly all Europe, and while oppressed by famine and the starving policy of England, commenced her spoliations on our commerce. Our ships were plundered as well by the armed vessels of France as by innumerable privateers, equipped for the purpose of supplying France with provisions from the only resource left her, the commerce of neutral nations."
Etymology
From Late Middle English spoliacioun (“looting, robbery, theft; an instance of this; (ecclesiastical) wrongful deprivation of the emoluments of a benefice due to another”), from Anglo-Norman spoliacioun, espolïacion, and directly from their etymon spoliātiō (“plundering, robbing”), from spoliāre (“to deprive or strip of clothing or covering, unclothe, uncover; (by extension) to pillage, plunder; etc.”), from spolium (“hide or skin stripped off an animal; (by extension) booty, spoil; etc.”). The English word was probably also influenced by French spoliation.
See also for "spoliation"
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