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The act or right of holding, as property, especially real estate. That the tenure of estates might rest on equity, the Indian title to lands was in all cases to be quieted. Bancroft.

A plea of a defendant that he did not hold the land, as affirmed.

Pertaining to fields, or lands, or their tenure; esp., relating to am equal or equitable division of lands; as, the agrarian laws of Rome, which distributed the conquered and other public lands among citizens. His Grace's landed possessions are irresistibly inviting to an agrarian experiment. Burke.…

By allodial tenure.

ich gave much alms to the people. Acts x. 2. Alms are but the vehicles of prayer. Dryden. Tenure by free alms. See Frankalmoign. Blackstone.

etime. [Obs.] They mourned their ancient leader lost. Pope. Ancient demesne (Eng. Law), a tenure by which all manors belonging to the crown, in the reign of William the Conqueror, were held. The numbers, names, etc., of these were all entered in a book called Domesday Book. -- Ancient lights (Law), windows and other o…

To restrict the tenure of; as, to astrict lands. See Astriction, 4. Burrill.

Pertaining to a baron or a barony. "Baronial tenure." Hallam.

service; as, a base estate, one held by services not honorable; held by villenage. Such a tenure is called base, or low, and the tenant, a base tenant. Base fee, formerly, an estate held at the will of the lord; now, a qualified fee. See note under Fee, n., 4. -- Base metal. See under Metal.

r during pleasure. For our English judges there never was . . . any bene placito as their tenure. F. Harrison.

A mode of tenure by the payment of a small duty in white rent (silver) or otherwise.

Villenage; tenure of land on condition of doing the meanest services for the owner.

ents and free services, which differed in nothing from free socage lands. This species of tenure has given rise to the modern freeholds.

The base or servile tenure by which a bordar held his cottage.

A tenure by which houses or lands are held of the king or other lord of a borough or city; at a certain yearly rent, or by services relating to trade or handicraft. Burrill.

An ancient Spanish land tenure similar to the English knight's fee; hence, in Spain and countries settled by the Spanish, a land measure of varying size. In Cuba it is about 33 acres; in Porto Rico, about 194 acres; in the Southwestern United States, about 108 acres.

A feudal tenure, obliging the tenant to perform service within the realm, without limitation of time.

o recover lands when the tenant has for two years failed to perform the conditions of his tenure.

a) At the head; as, a commander in chief. (b) (Eng. Law) From the king, or sovereign; as, tenure in chief, tenure directly from the king.

A tenure of lands by knight's service; that is, by the condition of a knight's performing service on horseback, or of performing some noble or military service to his lord.