Meaning

noun a reversion to the state (as the ultimate owner of property) in the absence of legal heirs

noun the property that reverts to the state

originFrom Middle English escheat, achete, eschete (“the reversion or conversion of property to the government”), from Anglo-Norman eschete and Old French eschet, escheit, escheoit (“that which falls to one”), past participle of escheoir (“to fall”) (modern French échoir), from Late Latin *excadēre (“fall away, fall out”), from (Latin) ex- + cadere (“fall”). Doublet of cheat.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 3.0