1. the act of wrongfully keeping someone out of possession of land or property that belongs to them; unlawful dispossession
Usage: archaic; legal/historical

Examples

• The tenant filed a complaint alleging deforcement by the landlord.
• In medieval law, deforcement was a serious offense against property rights.
• The court ruled that the neighbor's deforcement of the boundary land was unlawful.
• Deforcement cases were common in early English common law.
• The victim sought damages for the deforcement of his rightful inheritance.