enfeoff

[ en-fef, -feef ]

verb (used with object)
  1. to invest with a freehold estate in land.

  2. to give as a fief.

Origin of enfeoff

1
1350–1400; Middle English enfe(o)ffen <Anglo-French enfe(o)ffer, equivalent to en- en-1 + Old French fiefer, fiever, derivative of fief fief

Other words from enfeoff

  • en·feoff·ment, noun

Words Nearby enfeoff

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How to use enfeoff in a sentence

  • Then bade the king enfeoff Siegfried, the youth, with land and castles, as he himself had done.

British Dictionary definitions for enfeoff

enfeoff

/ (ɪnˈfiːf) /


verb(tr)
  1. property law to invest (a person) with possession of a freehold estate in land

  2. (in feudal society) to take (someone) into vassalage by giving a fee or fief in return for certain services

Origin of enfeoff

1
C14: from Anglo-French enfeoffer; see fief

Derived forms of enfeoff

  • enfeoffment, noun

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