Definitions

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun The act of creeping on with secrecy or by surprise.
  • noun In Scots law, the obtaining of gifts of escheat, etc., by falsehood: opposed to subreption, in which such gifts are procured by concealing the truth.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • noun obsolete The act of creeping upon with secrecy or by surprise.
  • noun (Scots Law) The obtaining gifts of escheat by fraud or surprise.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun obsolete The act of creeping upon with secrecy or by surprise.
  • noun obsolete, Scotland, law Act of obtaining gifts of escheat by fraud or surprise.

Etymologies

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

Latin obreptio, from obrepere, obreptum, to creep up to; ob (see prefix ob-) + repere to creep.

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