Standard Lemma guide
Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.
Sound
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verb
To transfer a fief to, to endow with a fief; to put (a person) in legal possession of a freehold interest.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: historical, transitive
Topics: law
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Synonyms: feoff
Antonyms: none provided
verb
To give up completely; to surrender, to yield.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: figuratively, transitive
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Synonyms: cede
Antonyms: none provided
verb
put in possession of land in exchange for a pledge of service, in feudal society
Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
Broader terms: give
History
From Late Middle English enfeffen, enfeoffen (“to grant (property, rights, etc.) under the feudal system”) [and other forms], from Old French enfeffer, enfieffer (compare Anglo-Latin infeoffāre, Anglo-Norman enfeoffer), from en- (prefix meaning ‘in, into’) + fief (“estate held by a person on condition of providing military service to a superior”) (ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *peḱu- (“livestock, especially sheep or cattle”)). The English word is analysable as en- + feoff.
Across languages
11 source translations are retained for this English entry.
