Agistment

Part of speech: noun

Pronunciation: /əˈd͡ʒɪstmənt/

Definitions

1. The practice involves allowing livestock to graze on land that belongs to another party, typically accompanied by a financial compensation arrangement for the usage of that land
2. This term refers to the system by which animals are permitted to feed on someone else's property, usually through a contractual agreement that includes payment for the privilege
3. The concept encompasses the act of permitting animals to graze on private land, often involving a formal agreement and a payment to the landowner for the use of their pasture

Etymology: Agistment is one of those legal words that quietly carries an old Anglo-French system of land rights. The verb "agist" comes from Old French "agister", meaning to lay down a charge or tax on something, and in English it came to mean taking in other people's livestock for grazing in return for payment. The verb itself is the base; the noun is formed by adding the suffix "-ment", which turns a verb into a word for the act, process or result of doing it. That suffix has a long pedigree. It descends from a Latin "-mentum" used to form nouns of action or result, which passed into Old French as "-ment" and then into Middle English. English speakers have been adding it to verbs ever since, so "agistment" follows the same pattern as words like "payment" or "judgment".