Excluded from receiving property, money, or inheritance from a parent or relative's will; rejected or excluded from family inheritance.
From 'dis-' (opposite/away) + 'inherit' (from Old French 'enheriter,' to make heir). The practice of disinheriting appears throughout history as a punishment for family disputes.
Disinheritance became a powerful plot device in literature because it represents ultimate family rejection—Shakespeare used it repeatedly because cutting someone out of a will meant erasing their status and future. It's a financial betrayal.
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