feudatory

American  

[fyoo-duh-tawr-ee, -tohr-ee] / ˈfju dəˌtɔr i, -ˌtoʊr i /

noun

feudatories plural

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

2. a fief or fee.

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adjective

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

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

feudatory British  

/ -trɪ, ˈfjuːdətərɪ /

noun

1. a person holding a fief; vassal

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adjective

1. relating to or characteristic of the relationship between lord and vassal

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

Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• feudatories
  plural

Etymology

Origin of feudatory

1585–95; < Medieval Latin feudā ( tor ) fief-holder ( see feud ², -ator) + -tory ¹, -tory ² )

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

feudatory feudatories

"But Indore has been a powerful feudatory of the Raj," it said.

From BBC ● Jan. 11, 2025

On the outbreak of the Mutiny in May 1857, the nawab of Farukhnagar, the principal feudatory of the district, rose in rebellion.

From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 12, Slice 6 "Groups, Theory of" to "Gwyniad" by Various

"Tributary and feudatory States," says Vattel, "do not thereby cease to be sovereign and independent States, so long as self government and sovereign and independent authority is left in the administration of the State."

From Opinion of the Supreme Court of the United States, at January Term, 1832, Delivered by Mr. Chief Justice Marshall in the Case of Samuel A. Worcester, Plaintiff in Error, versus the State of Georgia With a Statement of the Case, Extracted from the Records of the Supreme Court of the United States by Marshall, John

Six hundred feudatory nobles composed his daily retinue, paying him the most obsequious homage, and expecting the same from those beneath themselves.

From Hernando Cortez Makers of History by Abbott, John S. C. (John Stevens Cabot)

This induced the Hirado feudatory to revoke the edict which he had issued against the Jesuits, and they were preparing to take advantage of his renewed hospitality when a Portuguese merchantman entered Hirado.

From A History of the Japanese People From the Earliest Times to the End of the Meiji Era by Brinkley, F. (Frank)

The territories owned by great feudatories or daimyo in the Ashikaga age were by no means compact entities definitely bounded.

From An Introduction to the History of Japan by Hara, Katsuro

It also formed an assembly in which common interests were discussed, the lord, according to custom, being bound to consult his feudatories and they to advise him to the best of their power.

From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 10, Slice 8 "France" to "Francis Joseph I." by Various

In 1110 he banished the more conspicuous malcontents, and from that date was safe against the plots of his English feudatories.

From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 13, Slice 3 "Helmont, Jean" to "Hernosand" by Various

He professed to have seen a book from the Papal library, in which it was maintained that all Christian princes were only feudatories of the Pope.

From The Divorce of Catherine of Aragon The Story as Told by the Imperial Ambassadors Resident at the Court of Henry VIII by Froude, J.A.

He then joined the Kirghiz of Bolor round Narym, who were nominally feudatories of China, and, with their aid, commenced a petty sort of border war.

From The Life of Yakoob Beg Athalik Ghazi, and Badaulet; Ameer of Kashgar by Boulger, Demetrius Charles