demise

 
Pronunciation: /dɪˈmʌɪz/

noun

[in singular]
  • 1a person’s death: Mr Grisenthwaite’s tragic demise
  • the end or failure of an enterprise or institution: the demise of industry
  • 2 [mass noun] Law conveyance or transfer of property or a title by will or lease.

verb

[with object] Law
  • convey or grant (an estate) by will or lease: the manor and the mill were demised for twenty-one-year terms (as adjective demised) the demised property
  • transmit (a sovereign’s title) by death or abdication.

Origin:

late Middle English (as a legal term): from Anglo-Norman French, past participle (used as a noun) of Old French desmettre 'dismiss', (in reflexive) 'abdicate', based on Latin dimittere (see dismiss)