Enfeoffer

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. Someone who bestows an estate or land holding on another person in exchange for feudal service and loyalty
2. A lord or superior who formally transfers a fief, granting land to a subordinate under feudal tenure
3. The person who confers a feudal estate upon a tenant, binding that tenant to obligations of service

Etymology: "Enfeoffer" is formed from the verb "enfeoff," which combines the prefix "en-" (to put into or cause to be) with "feoff," a legal term for a grant of land. "Feoff" came into English from Anglo-Norman and Old French "fieu" or "fief," which itself derives from a Frankish or Germanic word related to cattle and property, the same root behind the English "fee" in its older sense of livestock or wealth. The verb "enfeoff" was used in English law to describe the formal act of granting a fief, a holding of land given by a lord to a vassal in return for military service, counsel, or loyalty. The person performing that grant was the enfeoffer, while the recipient was the enfeoffee. The pairing shows how feudal relationships were written into the language: one party gave land, the other owed service, and the vocabulary recorded both sides of the bargain.

Synonyms: feoffor