defiliation

English

Etymology

From Latin de- + filius (“son”).

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /dɪˌfɪliːˈ(j)eɪʃən/

Noun

defiliation (countable and uncountable, plural defiliations)

1. The abstraction of a child from its parents.
   • 1823, Elia [pseudonym; Charles Lamb], Elia. Essays which have Appeared under that Signature in The London Magazine, London: […] [Thomas Davison] for Taylor and Hessey, […], →OCLC:

     […] the tales of fairy-spiriting may shadow a lamentable verity, and the recovery of the young Montagu be but a solitary instance of good fortune, out of many irreparable and hopeless defiliations.

References

• “defiliation”, in OneLook Dictionary Search.

Part or all of this entry has been imported from the 1913 edition of Webster’s Dictionary, which is now free of copyright and hence in the public domain. The imported definitions may be significantly out of date, and any more recent senses may be completely missing.
(See the entry for “defiliation”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.)