dispossession

English

Etymology

dis- +‎ possession

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /dɪspəˈzɛʃn̩/

• Audio (US)

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Noun

dispossession (countable and uncountable, plural dispossessions)

1. The act of dispossessing someone of something.
2. The casting out of an evil spirit that has possessed someone; exorcism.
   • 1971, Keith Thomas, Religion and the Decline of Magic, Folio Society, published 2012, page 462:

     There had been a series of such dispossessions since the beginning of Elizabeth's reign involving many clergy, particularly those of vehement Protestant sympathies.