minorat

Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia

1. n. The custom that prevailed in some European countries, and still survives in some parts of Germany and Austria, by which the youngest rather than the eldest possible heir had the succession. Compare majorat. Similar to borough-English (which see).

GNU Webster's 1913

1. n. (Law) A custom or right, analogous to borough-English in England, formerly existing in various parts of Europe, and surviving in parts of Germany and Austria, by which certain entailed estates, as a homestead and adjacent land, descend to the youngest male heir.