What does escrowing mean?
Escrowing refers to the practice of placing money, documents, or other property into the hands of a neutral third party — the escrow agent — who holds them until both sides of a transaction have satisfied their obligations. The term is the present participle of 'escrow', a verb derived directly from the noun. In practice, escrowing is most familiar from property purchases, where a buyer's deposit is held by a solicitor or title company until contracts are exchanged, but it also occurs in software development (source-code escrow), online marketplaces, and dispute resolution. Because it implies protection for all parties rather than mistrust of any one of them, the word carries a neutral, procedural connotation. Its use signals formality: you will rarely meet it outside legal agreements, banking correspondence, and commercial negotiation, yet within those settings it is indispensable vocabulary for describing how transactions are made secure.
verb (present participle of escrow)The act of placing money or property in the custody of a neutral third party, to be released only when specified conditions are met.
- To place funds or property with an impartial third party pending fulfilment of agreed conditions
"The buyers are escrowing the funds until the inspection is complete."
"The developer insisted on escrowing the payments until each milestone was certified."
"Rather than refund immediately, the platform began escrowing disputed amounts for thirty days."
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Etymology of escrowing
Escrowing derives from 'escrow', which entered English in the sixteenth century from Anglo-Norman French 'escrowe' (also 'escroue'), meaning a scrap or scroll of parchment — the written deed held by a third party. The French word traces back to a Germanic root shared with 'scroll' and 'shred', reflecting its origin in physical strips of document. The verb 'to escrow' developed later from this noun, giving rise to forms such as 'escrowed' and 'escrowing'.
Related word forms
How escrowing is actually used
Formal register, used almost exclusively in legal, financial and real-estate contexts. The base form 'escrow' is far more common; 'escrowing' appears chiefly in progressive constructions.
Easily confused with escrowing
'Scoring' means making marks or earning points, while 'escrowing' means placing assets with a neutral third party.