vassal

Definitions  ·  Examples  ·  Pronunciations  ·  Etymologies  ·  Related  ·  Statistics  ·  Comments (1)  · 
“
Under certain circumstances the vassal was also compelled to make money payments.

View all »
Definitions (17)

Toggle American Heritage definitions American Heritage Dictionary (3)

  1. noun A person who held land from a feudal lord and received protection in return for homage and allegiance.
  2. noun A bondman; a slave.
  3. noun A subordinate or dependent.

Toggle Century definitions Century Dictionary (9)

Toggle GNU Webster definitions GNU Webster's 1913 (4)

Toggle WordNet definitions WordNet (1)

Toggle elsewhere links Elsewhere on the web

View all »
Examples

  • War was to be avoided, and above all a war into which we should have been dragged as the vassal of France; so Washington intended to wait, and he managed to make the Kentuckians wait too, a process by no means agreeable to that enterprising people. —  George Washington
  • To be used as a vassal was one thing, to have his country used as a base for a war without being informed was too much. —  Red Storm Rising
  • Lintel was my vassal, and he is well rewarded for his treachery. —  Beyond World's End
  • At the beginning of the week Anthony had been silent and taken to frowning, but by week's end Duncan noticed his vassal was usually the one speaking. —  Garwood, Julie - Honor's Splendour
  • Under certain circumstances the vassal was also compelled to make money payments. —  Early European History
 

Tags

Sign up or sign in to add tags.

Stats

Vassal has been looked up 358 times, favorited 0 times, listed 16 times, and commented on once.

stop updating
On Twitter

Photos from

flickr images

Add a related word »
Related

Allen's Allen's Synonyms and Antonyms

Used in the same context Used in the Same Context

serf ·  retainer ·  baron ·  courtier ·  ally ·  follower ·  chieftain ·  lord ·  heir ·  adviser ·  servant ·  nobleman

Etymologies (3)

Toggle American Heritage etymologies American Heritage Dictionary (1)

  1. Middle English, from Old French, from Vulgar Latin *vassallus, from *vassus, of Celtic origin; see upo in Indo-European roots.

Toggle Century etymologies Century Dictionary (2)

  1. Formerly also vassall, rarely vassaile; from Middle English vassal, from Old French vassal, French vassal = Provencal vassal, vassau = Catalan vassal = Spanish vasallo = Portuguese Italian vassallo = Dutch vassaal = G. Swedish vasall = Danish vasal, from Middle Latin vassallus, extended from vassus, vasus, a servant, from Bret, gwaz, a servant, vassal, man, male, = Welsh gwas = Cornish gwas, a youth, servant; cf. Irish fas, growing, growth, and English wax. Hence ult. varlet, valet, vassalage, vavasor.
  2. from vassal, n.
 

Pronunciations
Record your own »
/ˈvæsəl/
by American Heritage

Charts
frequency chart

Bubble size: how much this word was used in a year

Bubble height: used more or less than expected, vs. all uses evenly distributed

You can expect to see this word several times a year.

Recent Lookups

actualization · hueless · postulated · treatise · Kindles

Recent Favorites

TelePalmter · Espoo · stick-to-it-iveness · supine · doxastic

Recent Pronunciations

milosrdenstvi · lichen-covered · futon · sagacity · monoragngocious