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  1. enfeoff love

Definitions

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition

  1. v. To invest with a feudal estate or fee.

Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia

  1. In law, to give a feud to; hence, to invest with a fee; give any corporeal hereditament to in fee simple or fee tail.
  2. Figuratively, to surrender or give up.

Wiktionary

  1. v. transitive To put (a person) in legal possession of a freehold interest; to transfer a fief to.

GNU Webster's 1913

  1. v. (Law) To give a feud, or right in land, to; to invest with a fief or fee; to invest (any one) with a freehold estate by the process of feoffment.
  2. v. obsolete To give in vassalage; to make subservient.

WordNet 3.0

  1. v. put in possession of land in exchange for a pledge of service, in feudal society

Etymologies

  1. Middle English enfeffen, from Anglo-Norman enfeoffer : Old French en-, causative pref.; see en-1 + Old French fief, fief; see fee. (American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition)

Examples

  • “Then bade the king enfeoff Siegfried, the youth, with land and castles, as he himself had done.”

    The Nibelungenlied

  • “Now the army officers are counting up those who have merits and think that the world is insufficient to enfeoff them all, so they fear that for a”

    The History of the Former Han Dynasty

  • “The possessions which pertain to the support of my Archbishopric, I will not sell, nor give away, nor pledge, nor re-enfeoff, nor alienate in any way, without first consulting the Roman Pontiff.”

    The Purpose of the Papacy

  • “The suggestion of such a commutation no doubt arose in connexion with the Church baronies, whose holders would find many reasons against personal service in the field, especially in the prohibition of the canon law, and who in most cases preferred not to enfeoff on their lands knights enough to meet their military obligations to the king.”

    The History of England from the Norman Conquest to the Death of John (1066-1216)

  • “Colpoys agreed with the warden and fellows of Winchester College to enfeoff them of one messuage, four tofts, twenty acres of arable land, and eighteen acres of meadow, to the intent that they should on the 7th day of April in every year celebrate the obits of Alice his deceased wife, of John Giles and Maud his wife (her parents), of Sir”

    John Keble's Parishes

  • “With the dower-lands to enfeoff them that we gave for bridal right”

    The Lay of the Cid

  • “Also, that they enfeoff William his son; in the manor of BevUham, with the hundred of Shoosewell, with re - mainder (in default of heirs male) to John, his son and heir; and in default, to Thomas his son, and his heirs male, with remainder to his right heirs.”

    Internet Archive: Peerage of England. ...

  • “Majesty has always disliked, figuring out the one whom all your courtiers know [you dislike] the very most, and enfeoff him first in order to show your courtiers [that you really mean them well]. ”

    The History of the Former Han Dynasty

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synonyms (2)

Words with the same meaning

  1. infeft
  1. subfeu

hypernyms (1)

Words that are more generic or abstract

  1. give

reverse dictionary (3)

Words that contain this word in their definition

  1. infeoff
  1. enfeff
  1. feoff

tags (1)

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  1. vccvvcc

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‘enfeoff’ has been looked up 1444 times, added to 10 lists, commented on 1 time, and has a Scrabble score of 12.