foreclose

English

Etymology

Partially from Middle English foreclosen, forclosen, from Old French forclos, past participle of forclore (“to exclude”), from for- (“(prefix used to express error, exclusion, or inadequacy)”) + clore (“to shut”), and partially from Middle English forclusen (“to close up”), from Old English forclȳsan (“to close up”), equivalent to fore- +‎ close. (This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /fɔːˈkləʊz/
• (General American, Canada) IPA^(key): /fɔɹˈkloʊz/
• (General Australian) IPA^(key): /foːˈkləʉz/, /ˌfoːˈklɐʉz/

  • Audio (General Australian):

    (file)

• (New Zealand) IPA^(key): /foːˈklɐʉz/
• Rhymes: -əʊz

Verb

foreclose (third-person singular simple present forecloses, present participle foreclosing, simple past and past participle foreclosed)

1. (transitive, law) To repossess a mortgaged property whose owner has failed to make the necessary payments; used with on.

   They have to move out of their house because the bank foreclosed on their mortgage.

2. (transitive, law) To cut off (a mortgager) by a judgment of court from the power of redeeming the mortgaged premises.
3. (transitive, originally) To shut up or out; to prevent from doing something.

   Synonyms: stop, prevent, bar, exclude

   • 1609, Richard Carew, The Survey of Cornwall. […], new edition, London: […] B. Law, […]; Penzance, Cornwall: J. Hewett, published 1769, →OCLC:

     The embargo with Spain foreclosed this trade.

   • 2005, Tony Judt, “The Power of the Powerless”, in Postwar: A History of Europe Since 1945, London: Vintage Books, published 2010, →ISBN:

     One of the paradoxes of Ostpolitik, as practiced by Brandt and his successors, was that by transferring large sums of hard currency into East Germany and showering the GDR with recognition, attention, and support, West German officials unintentionally foreclosed any chance of internal change, including reform of Eastern Germany’s polluted, antiquated industrial economy.

   • 2023, Eleanor Catton, Birnam Wood, page 55:

     to foreclose the possibility completely. she packed the footwell of the passenger seat with her duffel bag and camping gear and buckled a stack of seed trays on to the seat.

Derived terms

• foreclosee
• forecloser
• foreclosure
• foreclosable

Related terms

• forestall
• preclude

Translations

to repossess

• Bulgarian: взимам обратно (vzimam obratno)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 終止回贖權／终止回赎权 (zhōngzhǐ huíshúquán)

• Danish: tvangsauktionere
• Esperanto: please add this translation if you can
• Finnish: lunastaa (fi)
• French: saisir (fr)
• German: zwangsvollstrecken
• Maori: taumanu
• Russian: please add this translation if you can
• Spanish: embargar (es)

to cut off

• Chinese:

  Mandarin: please add this translation if you can

• Finnish: sulkea (fi)
• French: please add this translation if you can

to prevent from doing something — see also prevent

• Bulgarian: изключвам (bg) (izključvam), не давам възможност (ne davam vǎzmožnost)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: please add this translation if you can

• Finnish: estää (fi), ehkäistä (fi)
• French: please add this translation if you can
• German: verhindern (de)
• Spanish: evitar (es); impedir (es)

Further reading

• foreclosure on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
• “foreclose”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–2022.