GARNISHMENT

garnishment

(noun) a court order to an employer to withhold all or part of an employee’s wages and to send the money to the court or to the person who won a lawsuit against the employee

Source: WordNet® 3.1

Etymology

Noun

garnishment (countable and uncountable, plural garnishments)

(legal) A judgment that a third party should pay money owing to a defendant directly to a plaintiff.

Source: Wiktionary

Gar"nish*ment, n. Etym: [Cf. OF. garnissement protection, guarantee, warning.]

1. Ornament; embellishment; decoration. Sir H. Wotton.

2. (Law) (a) Warning, or legal notice, to one to appear and give information to the court on any matter. (b) Warning to a person in whose hands the effects of another are attached, not to pay the money or deliver the goods to the defendant, but to appear in court and give information as garnishee.

3. A fee. See Garnish, n., 4.

Source: Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary 1913 Edition