What does disgorgement mean?
Disgorgement refers to the act of pouring out or releasing something held inside, whether a crowd streaming from a stadium, sediment emptied by a river, or the contents of a stomach. Its most prominent modern use, however, is legal: disgorgement is an equitable remedy requiring someone who has profited from wrongdoing to surrender those gains. Courts and regulators, particularly in the United States, routinely seek disgorgement of illicit profits in securities-fraud and corporate-misconduct cases, on the principle that crime should not pay even when victims' losses are hard to quantify. The word carries a vivid, almost bodily image of forced expulsion, which lends both its literal and legal senses a certain dramatic force. Formal and largely confined to written English, disgorgement derives from the French 'desgorger', rooted in the Latin 'gurges', meaning whirlpool or gullet — a fitting ancestry for a word about things being violently given back up.
nounThe action of pouring out or discharging the contents of something; in law, the giving up of profits or gains obtained wrongfully or illegally.
- The legal remedy requiring a wrongdoer to give up profits gained through unlawful or unethical conduct.
- The physical act of pouring out, emitting, or discharging contents from within, especially in large quantities.
"The court ordered the full disgorgement of the executive's illicit bonuses."
"The regulator secured a disgorgement order compelling the firm to hand over millions in tainted fees."
"The river's disgorgement of silt reshaped the delta over centuries."
Rarely pluralised; typically treated as an uncountable mass noun referring to the process or remedy.
"Multiple disgorgements were ordered against the defendants."
In American courts, 'disgorgement' literally forces a fraudster to cough up every penny they made — the legal world borrowing a word that originally described a whale spewing out its dinner.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Etymology of disgorgement
Disgorgement comes from the Old French 'desgorger', formed from 'des-' (indicating reversal) plus 'gorge', meaning throat, which traces back through Late Latin 'gurga' to the classical Latin 'gurges', denoting a whirlpool or deep swirl. The verb 'disgorge' entered English in the early sixteenth century, first describing the physical expelling of swallowed matter, and the noun 'disgorgement' followed shortly after. Cognates sharing the same 'gorge' root include 'engorge', 'gourmand', and 'regurgitate'.
Related word forms
How disgorgement is actually used
Predominantly formal and technical. In everyday British English it can carry a faintly comic, physical connotation (as in a vehicle 'disgorging' passengers), while in American legal writing it is a neutral term of art for stripping wrongdoers of their gains.
Easily confused with disgorgement
Engorgement means swelling or filling with fluid (as with blood or milk), while disgorgement means emptying out or surrendering what was taken in.