mid-15c., "restoration, recovery," from Old French éviction and directly from Late Latin evictionem (nominative evictio) "recovery of one's property (by judicial decision)," noun of action from past-participle stem of evincere, literally "overcome, conquer" (see evict). From 1580s as "dispossession by judicial sentence, the recovery of lands or tenements from another's possession by due course of law."