enfeoff

verb
/ɛnˈfɛf/US

Etymology

From Late Middle English enfeffen, enfeoffen (“to grant (property, rights, etc.) under the feudal system”) [and other forms], from Old French enfeffer, enfieffer (compare Anglo-Latin infeoffāre, Anglo-Norman enfeoffer), from en- (prefix meaning ‘in, into’) + fief (“estate held by a person on condition of providing military service to a superior”) (ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *peḱu- (“livestock, especially sheep or cattle”)). The English word is analysable as en- + feoff.

  1. derived from *peḱu- — “livestock, especially sheep or cattle
  2. derived from enfeffer
  3. inherited from enfeffen,enfeoffen — “to grant (property, rights, etc.) under the feudal system

Definitions

  1. To transfer a fief to, to endow with a fief

    To transfer a fief to, to endow with a fief; to put (a person) in legal possession of a freehold interest.

    • I have infeffed Richarde Pygot, sarjeaunt of the lawe, John Norton, knyght, John Pygott of Rypon, gentilman, and Sir Thomas Nobull, prest, in lands and tenements within the fraunchese of Rypon, [...]
    • And all this he [Pope Pius V] doth to enfeoff the pope with that fulness of power wherunto he entitleth Peter.
  2. To give up completely

    To give up completely; to surrender, to yield.

The neighborhood

Vish — recursive loop

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sense glosses and etymology drawn from English Wiktionary · source · CC-BY-SA