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.

RELATED WORDS

householder, landlady, mesne

Nearby words

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