Search the Dictionary

A certain tenure in tail special; an estate of inheritance given to a man his wife (the wife being of the blood of the donor), and descendible to the heirs of their two bodies begotten. [Obs.] Blackstone.

A tenure by which a religious corporation holds lands given to them and their successors forever, usually on condition of praying for the soul of the donor and his heirs; -- called also tenure by free alms. Burrill.

e from capture even though carrying enemy's goods. -- Free socage (O.Eng. Law), a feudal tenure held by certain services which, though honorable, were not military. Abbott. -- Free States, those of the United States before the Civil War, in which slavery had ceased to exist, or had never existed. -- Free stuff (Carp…

n estate in real property, of inheritance (in fee simple or fee tail) or for life; or the tenure by which such estate is held. Kent. Burrill. To abate into a freehold. See under Abate.

A tenure by which land descended from the father to all his sons in equal portions, and the land of a brother, dying without issue, descended equally to his brothers. It still prevails in the county of Kent. Cowell.

back." Jowett (Thucyd.). -- To hang by the eyelids. (a) To hang by a very slight hold or tenure. (b) To be in an unfinished condition; to be left incomplete. -- To hang in doubt, to be in suspense. -- To hang on (with the emphasis on the preposition), to keep hold; to hold fast; to stick; to be persistent, as a dise…

One who by his tenure was to maintain a horse for military service; a kind of light horseman in the Middle Ages who was mounted on a hobby. Hallam. Sir J. Davies.

A tenure; a farm or other estate held of another.

Not liable to be removed; permanent in place or tenure; fixed; as, an immovable estate. See Immovable, n. Blackstone. Immovable apparatus (Med.), an appliance, like the plaster of paris bandage, which keeps fractured parts firmly in place. -- Immovable feasts (Eccl.), feasts which occur on a certain day of the year an…

er being usually transferable without the consent of the rest. -- Joint tenancy (Law), a tenure by two or more persons of estate by unity of interest, title, time, and possession, under which the survivor takes the whole. Blackstone. -- Joint tenant (Law), one who holds an estate by joint tenancy.

A tenure of lands held by knights on condition of performing military service. See Chivalry, n., 4.

(Feud. Law) The military service by rendering which a knight held his lands; also, the tenure of lands held on condition of performing military service.

Any tenure by grant or permission; the time for which such a tenure holds good; allotted time. Our high-placed Macbeth Shall live the lease of nature. Shak. Lease and release a mode of conveyance of freehold estates, formerly common in England and in New York. its place is now supplied by a simple deed of grant. Burril…

A tenure by lease; specifically, land held as personalty under a lease for years.

serving an independent sovereign or master; bound by a feudal tenure; obliged to be faithful and loyal to a superior, as a vassal to his lord; faithful; loyal; as, a liege man; a liege subject.

n times taking a similar form, membership of which confers some distinction. -- Military tenure, tenure of land, on condition of performing military service.

ession; actual possession and control; the state of being occupied; a holding or keeping; tenure; use; as, the occupation of lands by a tenant.

haps to other rights of the kindred or the tribe. Survivals of the early odal estates and tenure exist in Orkney and Shetland, where it is usually called by the variant form udal.

master.] A fop; a coxcomb; a ladies' man. Goldsmith. -- Petit serjeanty (Eng. Law), the tenure of lands of the crown, by the service of rendering annually some implement of war, as a bow, an arrow, a sword, a flag, etc. -- Petit treason, formerly, in England, the crime of killing a person to whom the offender owed d…

Held by a doubtful tenure; depending on unknown causes or events; exposed to constant risk; not to be depended on for certainty or stability; uncertain; as, a precarious state of health; precarious fortunes. "Intervals of partial and precarious liberty." Macaulay.