Definition of "unearned increment" []

• The increase in property value resulting from factors independent of the owner, such as a general rise in demand for land. (noun)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

• "By the same law of accession increase in value, even unearned increment as it is called, belongs to the owner of that which thus increases -- "Res fructificat domino"."