estovers

American  

[e-stoh-verz] / ɛˈstoʊ vərz /

plural noun

Law.

1. necessaries allowed by law, as wood and timber to a tenant or alimony to a spouse.

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estovers British  

/ ɛˈstəʊvəz /

plural noun

1. law a right allowed by law to tenants of land to cut timber, esp for fuel and repairs

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Etymology

Origin of estovers

1250–1300; Middle English < Anglo-French, noun use of Old French estovoir, estover to be necessary ≪ Latin est opus there is need

Example Sentences

Their rights of usufruct, grazing, pannage, estovers, turbary and piscary survived for many centuries before being terminated: first informally, later in wholesale acts of enclosure.

From The Guardian • Jan. 31, 2011

Mr. and Mrs. Scobel were among those dusky figures grouped around the wide firelit hearth, where the piled-up logs testified to the Tempest common of estovers.

From Vixen, Volume II. by Braddon, M. E. (Mary Elizabeth)

Common of estovers is the liberty of taking the necessary wood for a house or farm from another's estate.

From The New Gresham Encyclopedia Volume 4, Part 2: Ebert to Estremadura by Various

The various kinds of estovers were thus known as house-bote, cart or plough-bote, hedge or hay-bote, and fire-bote respectively.

From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 9, Slice 7 "Equation" to "Ethics" by Various

And to make this plainer, if need be, it is added, "If a man grants to one estovers to repair his house, it is appurtenant to his house."

From The Common Law by Holmes, Oliver Wendell