feudatory

[ fyoo-duh-tawr-ee, -tohr-ee ]

/ ˈfyu dəˌtɔr i, -ˌtoʊr i /

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR feudatory ON THESAURUS.COM

noun, plural feu·da·to·ries.

a person who holds lands by feudal tenure; a feudal vassal.

a fief or fee.

adjective

(of a kingdom or state) under the overlordship of another sovereign or state.

(of a feudal estate) holding or held by feudal tenure.

Words related to feudatory

householder, landlady, mesne

Words nearby feudatory

feudal, feudal system, feudalism, feudality, feudalize, feudatory, feudist, feuerbach, feuillant, feuilleton, fev

Origin of feudatory

1585–95; < Medieval Latin feudā(tor) fief-holder (see feud², -ator) + -tory¹, -tory²)

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for feudatory

He was not twenty when the three feudatory princes broke into open rebellion.
China and the Manchus|Herbert Allen Giles
When the king or a feudatory lord captured a prisoner for the first time, his success was made the occasion of much rejoicing.
The Works of Hubert Howe Bancroft, Volume 2|Hubert Howe Bancroft
The count of Flanders thus became a feudatory of the empire as well as of the French crown.
Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 10, Slice 4|Various
There is a prodigious difference between the oblat of a saint and the feudatory of a bishop.
A Philosophical Dictionary, Volume 4 (of 10)|Franois-Marie Arouet (AKA Voltaire)

His position with regard to the Persian kings was that of a feudatory.
History of the Jews, Vol. II (of 6)|Heinrich Graetz

British Dictionary definitions for feudatory

feudatory

/ (ˈfjuːdətərɪ, in feudal Europe -trɪ) /

noun

a person holding a fief; vassal

adjective

relating to or characteristic of the relationship between lord and vassal

(esp of a kingdom) under the overlordship of another sovereign

Word Origin for feudatory

C16: from Medieval Latin feudātor

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