Merriam-Webster Collegiate Dictionary - eschatology

 noun  (plural -gies)  Etymology: Greek eschatos last, farthest  Date: 1844  1. a branch of theology concerned with the final events in the history of the world or of mankind  2. a belief concerning death, the end of the world, or the ultimate destiny of mankind; specifically any of various Christian doctrines concerning the Second Coming, the resurrection of the dead, or the Last Judgment ESCHEAT  I. noun  Etymology: Middle English eschete, from Anglo-French, reversion of property, from escheir to fall, devolve, from Vulgar Latin *excadere, from Latin ex- + Vulgar Latin *cadere to fall, from Latin cadere — more at chance  Date: 14th century  1. ~ed property  2.  a. the reversion of lands in English feudal law to the lord of the fee when there are no heirs capable of inheriting under the original grant  b. the reversion of property to the crown in England or to the state in the United States when there are no legal heirs  II. verb  Date: 14th century  transitive verb to cause to revert by ~  intransitive verb to revert by ~  • ~able adjective