Sasine

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. The formal legal process by which feudal or Scottish property rights in land were transferred to a new owner through a ceremony of handing over possession
2. A historical Scottish law procedure in which ownership of heritable land was conveyed to a buyer or heir by formal delivery of seisin
3. The act, under feudal or Scottish legal custom, of formally granting possession of real estate to another person as the legal transfer of title

Etymology: Sasine is a Scottish legal term for the formal act of giving legal possession of land or a feudal superiority, and it has a surprisingly plain origin. It comes from Anglo-Norman and Old French "saisine", a noun from "saisir", meaning "to seize" or "to put in possession." The same verb gave English "seise" and "seisin," which describe the same idea in English land law. Scots law kept the word in use while English law let it fall out of everyday practice, so in Scotland a sasine became the name for the document or ceremony by which ownership passed. The Scottish Register of Sasines, the public record of land transfers, preserves the term in its official name.

Synonyms: seisin