Seigniories

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A feudal estate or domain controlled by a lord, with rights over the land and its inhabitants
2. a title or rank associated with a lordship, particularly in historical contexts
3. an area governed by a seignior, reflecting a hierarchical social structure in medieval times

Etymology: "Seigniories" is the plural of "seigniory," a noun for the estate or domain held by a feudal lord, and its history runs through the Old French word for lordship. The Old French "seignor," meaning lord, came from Latin "senior," literally "older" or "elder," the same root behind English "senior." Feudal society treated the eldest or most powerful man as the lord, so a title meaning "the older one" ended up naming the man who commanded others' labour and loyalty. To that lord's title, Old French added the suffix "-ie," which formed abstract nouns for a state, quality or domain. "Seignorie" therefore named lordship itself, the authority of a lord, and later the territory over which that authority ran. Middle English borrowed the word as "seignurie," and English speakers used it in that sense, the plural form naming several such estates at once.

Synonyms: lordships, territories