devastavit

Syllables: de·va·sta·vit/ˌdiːvəˈsteɪvɪt/

devastavit noun: waste or misapplication of the assets of a deceased person by an executor or administrator; devastation.

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Noun

devastavit (plural devastavits)

Waste or misapplication of the assets of a deceased person by an executor or administrator; devastation.
- Waſt may be committed by ſelling or confuſing the Teſtator's Goods, leaving debts unpaid. By […] not having enough to pay them by ſelling of the Teſtator's Goods at an undervalue if by Covin, but if upon a judgment the Sheriff ſell them at undervalue, this is no Devaſtavit in the Executor.1702, The Law of Executors and Administrators, being a Common Law Treatise. Shewing, Directions for the Management of their Office and Duty, in the Several Branches of It. …, London: Printed by the...
- If an Executor pay an Uſurious Bond, other Creditors may make a Devaſtavit of it, Hob. p. 167. If a Man be bound in an Obligation Uſurious, the Bond is void between the Parties, yea and Strangers ſhall take the advantage of it; and therefore if ſuch an Obligor makes his Executor and die, and the...[1710?], A Common Law Treatise of Usury, and Usurious Contracts: Wherein is Set forth, the Nature of Usury, and what Contracts are Said Usurious in our Law. …, London: Printed for John Wickins, and...
In full, writ of devastavit: a writ issued against an executor or administrator claiming compensation for such misapplication of assets.

Examples of devastavit in a sentence

If an Executor pay an Uſurious Bond, other Creditors may make a Devaſtavit of it, Hob. p. 167.[1710?], A Common Law Treatise of Usury, and Usurious Contracts: Wherein is Set forth, the Nature of Usury, and what Contracts are Said...
In the case of an executor committing a devastavit, and a decree for payment of the amount, the debt is considered as due from the time of the devastavit, and not from the date of the decree; […]1832, Edward Vaughan Williams, A Treatise on the Law of Executors and Administrators. … In Two Volumes, volume II, London: Saunders and...
These acts are known in legal language as devastavits or acts whereby he has "wasted" or squandered the assets.1861, Charles Francis Trower, The Law of Debtor and Creditor (The Law Library), Philadelphia, Pa.: T. & J. W. Johnson & Co., law...
He was without authority, as the administrator in chief was without duty to him, for defaults or devastavits during the preceding administration.1905, Reports of Cases Argued and Determined in the Supreme Court of Alabama, volume 41, Montgomery, Ala.: Brown Printing Co., →OCLC, page...

Synonyms of devastavit

devastation

Forms of devastavit

plural	devastavits

Origin of devastavit

Borrowed from Medieval Latin dēvastāvit (“he has wasted”), from dēvastāre, from dēvastō (“to devastate, lay waste”), from de- + vastāre (from vastō (“to devastate, lay waste, ravage”), from vastus (“deserted, wasted”), from Proto-Indo-European *weh₂st- (“empty; wasted”)).

Questions about devastavit

What does devastavit mean?: Devastavit means waste or misapplication of the assets of a deceased person by an executor or administrator; devastation.
How do you use devastavit in a sentence?: If an Executor pay an Uſurious Bond, other Creditors may make a Devaſtavit of it, Hob. p. 167.
What part of speech is devastavit?: Devastavit is a noun.
How do you pronounce devastavit?: Devastavit is pronounced /ˌdiːvəˈsteɪvɪt/ (UK).
What is the plural of devastavit?: The plural of devastavit is devastavits.

Words near devastavit in the dictionary

Adapted from Wiktionary: devastavit (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

Last updated: 2026-09-02

Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: en-uk-devastavit.opus.

Cite this entry: “devastavit.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/devastavit. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.