What does replevy mean?
Replevy is a formal legal verb meaning to recover property, or the value of property, that has been seized or taken by another. It is especially associated with the legal remedy of replevin, in which a person seeks to recover goods or personal property from someone holding them. The word is not usually used to mean ordinary repossession in every context; it has a more specific connection to asserting a legal right to property. In modern American legal writing, the noun replevin is generally more familiar than the verb replevy, although the verb remains useful when describing the action of recovering seized property. The term is therefore most appropriate in contracts, court proceedings, historical law, and other formal or technical settings.
verbTo recover property or the value of property that has been seized or taken by another, especially by a legal proceeding. The term is now chiefly used in the context of replevin.
- To recover property or its value after it has been seized or taken by another, especially through legal proceedings.
"The landlord sought to replevy the equipment that had been repossessed from the tenant."
"The plaintiff used the writ of replevin to replevy the goods stored in the warehouse."
"Under the agreement, the lender may replevy the equipment if the borrower defaults."
Replevy is the courtroom verb for winning back property that someone else has seized.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Where does replevy come from?
Replevy comes through Anglo-French and medieval legal usage from a word related to Latin replevere, meaning to fill again or restore. The same Latin root underlies replenish, replete, and plenty. Its legal sense developed through the action of taking back property that had been delivered to another, especially when that person was not entitled to retain it.
Related word forms
How replevy is actually used
This is primarily a formal legal term, especially in US and historical legal English. In modern practice, the related noun replevin is often more common than the verb.
Easily confused with replevy
Replevy is the verb meaning to recover seized property, while replevin is the legal proceeding or writ used to obtain that recovery.
Repossess generally means to take back property under a contractual right, whereas replevy specifically refers to recovering property through a legal claim.