soke

[ sohk ]

nounEarly English Law.
  1. the privilege of holding court, usually connected with the feudal rights of lordship.

  2. a district over which local jurisdiction was exercised.

Origin of soke

1
1250–1300; Middle English <Anglo-Latin soca<Old English sōcn attack, right of prosecution, jurisdiction (see soken); akin to sake1, seek

Words Nearby soke

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use soke in a sentence

  • If that didn't seem tew influense me, I would soke in cold water for 12 months.

    Josh Billings, Hiz Sayings | Henry Wheeler Shaw
  • In the meantime eight or ten men have gathered the amole and soke.

  • The free man is the freer if he has soke and sake, if he has jurisdiction over other men.

    Domesday Book and Beyond | Frederic William Maitland
  • They could give and sell their land, but the soke and the commendation and the service would remain to the Saint.

    Domesday Book and Beyond | Frederic William Maitland
  • These free men could sell or give their land, but the commendation and the soke and sake would remain to St Edmund.

    Domesday Book and Beyond | Frederic William Maitland

British Dictionary definitions for soke

soke

/ (səʊk) /


nounEnglish legal history
  1. the right to hold a local court

  2. the territory under the jurisdiction of a particular court

Origin of soke

1
C14: from Medieval Latin sōca, from Old English sōcn a seeking; see seek

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012