To take back a mortgaged property when the owner fails to pay their loans; to take legal action to repossess a home.
From Old French forclos, meaning 'excluded' or 'shut out.' 'Fore-' (before) + 'close' (to shut). The legal process prevents the borrower from reclaiming their property.
The 2008 financial crisis made 'foreclosure' a household word when millions of Americans lost their homes—it was the worst housing crisis since the Great Depression. The word 'foreclosure' itself, meaning 'to exclude from the ability to reclaim,' perfectly captures the finality and heartbreak of the process.
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