Attourn

Part of speech: verb

Definitions

1. Formally agree to become the tenant of a new landlord after property changes hands, or to accept a new lord in feudal law
2. To acknowledge a new owner of leased land or a superior's rights, especially when the property or its tenancy has been transferred
3. Legally recognize a new landlord or feudal superior following a transfer, so that the existing tenant or vassal owes allegiance to them

Etymology: "Attourn" is a legal term from feudal England meaning to transfer a tenant's loyalty and rent to a new lord or landlord, typically when land changed hands. It comes from Anglo-Norman "atorner", formed from Old French "a-" (to) and "torner" (to turn), so the underlying sense is "to turn over to" someone. The Old French verb "torner" is the same root that gave English "tourn" words like "tour" and "return", which is the surprising connection here: the word is essentially a legal cousin of "turn". The key idea is that a tenant's obligations were personal, so when the land passed to a new owner, the tenant had to be formally "turned over" to them by agreeing to pay and serve the new lord. Refusing to attourn could be a serious matter, since the tenant was in effect denying the new owner's rights. The term was used in English law for centuries, and it appears in medieval law reports and later in property textbooks. Note that "attorn" is also an older spelling, and it is the form common in modern legal writing. Its relative "attorney", a person who acts on another's behalf, is a separate word from the same French verb "atorner", meaning "to appoint or assign."