Confiscation, from the Latin confiscatio 'joining to the fiscus, for example transfer to the treasury''s a legal seizure without compensation by a government or other public authority. The word's also used, popularly, of spoliation under legal forms, or of any seizure of property without adequate compensation. Scope and history As a punishment, it differs from a fine in that it isn't primarily meant to match the crime but rather reattributes the criminal's ill-gotten spoils (often as a complemen… (More on Confiscation)