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Glite Dictionary
enfeoffment

enfeoffment

9.9
Giving land to someone in return for their promise to serve a lord
  • noun
  • /ˌɛnˈfiːf.mənt/
  • Archaic
translation icon : enfiteutamiento
  • After receiving his enfeoffment, the farmer pledged to work the land and pay taxes to the lord.

Examples

  • Under the feudal system, the lord offered an enfeoffment to the knight in return for military service.

  • Similarly, the idea that enfeoffment of property might be a question for a bishop would have been quite laughable; lands of the realm were the province of the king.

    Academic text (2008)

  • The enfeoffment of the land was recorded in a formal deed, binding the vassal to his obligations.

Antonyms

retention
23 4.2

Keeping something so you still have it

Surface Forms

enfeoffment singular
enfeoffments plural

Morphology

enfeoffment = enfeoff (opaque) = en + feoff + ment

The step from the verb 'enfeoff' to the noun 'enfeoffment' is a straightforward nominalization with '-ment'.

Etymology

Enfeoffment comes from old parts en- (meaning 'in' or 'make') and feoff (related to fief, a 'fee' of land given to someone). A fief was land given in return for a promise of service, so an enfeoffment is the formal giving of land in exchange for service.