detinue
9.9
A legal case in which someone keeps another person's property and the owner asks for it back
- noun
- /ˈdɛtɪnjuː/
- Archaic
:
detentación
- The farmer was frustrated and took legal action for detinue when his tools were not returned.
Examples
-
He filed a lawsuit for detinue after his neighbor refused to return his lawnmower.
-
In cases of detinue, the owner may seek compensation if their property is wrongfully kept by another.
-
In only one did I find a word between detinue and detonate.
Fiction book (1991)
Synonyms
1
9.9
A legal action to get back personal property someone else is wrongly holding
is a broader legal claim about wrongful keeping and the owner's recovery effort
Antonyms
Compounds
writ of detinue
- Archaic
9.9
An order from a court to make someone return things kept from their owner
Surface Forms
Etymology
The word detinue comes from Latin parts de- 'from' and tenere 'to hold' and is related to words like detain and retain. So a detinue is when someone keeps another person's property without permission and the owner asks to get it back.