Definitions
Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
- n. Same as marchet.
Wiktionary
- n. obsolete In Middle Ages England, a fine paid to a lord on a daughter's marriage, in recompense for the loss of a worker.
Etymologies
- From Welsh merched, plural form of merch, daughter. (Wiktionary)
Examples
“He was subject to special payments, such as "merchet," a payment made to the lord of the manor when a woman of villain rank was married, and”
An Introduction to the Industrial and Social History of England
“Another very important distinction between the free tenants and the villeins was the payment of _merchet_ on the marriage of daughters, which signified that the offspring of such marriages would be the lawful property of the lord.”
“And merchet of women?' queried his cousin mischievously.”
“Previous payments of heriot, relief, merchet, and fines, acknowledgments of serfdom, the obtaining of their land on burdensome conditions, were all recorded on the rolls and could be produced to prove the custom of the manor to the disadvantage of the tenant.”
An Introduction to the Industrial and Social History of England
“He laboured under many disabilities, such as the merchet or fine for marrying his daughter, and fines for selling horse or ox.”
“"merchet of women" also, but as an antiquary I must tell ye that it's not what you two young men would wish it to be ----”
Lists
These user-created lists contain the word ‘merchet’.
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Most Obscure Words
acatalectic, acosmism, acuate, acuminate, adscititious, adytum, akratisma, alieniloquy, allelomorph, allochiria, allodium, alnage and 620 more...
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Having: C; m; e
Goodies pulled from a list I've compiled of most-every word having these letters in common — It's going take to take a long, long time to actually get through (and I may want to extend it lat...
chamber, chimney, compesce, imperch, ipom�ic, lambency, premier cru, recumbence, simnelcake, succumbence, umbeschew, almacle and 631 more...
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