gavelkind

American  

[gav-uhl-kahynd] / ˈgæv əlˌkaɪnd /

noun

English Law.

1. (originally) a tenure of land in which the tenant was liable for a rental in money or produce rather than for labor or military service.

2. a customary system of land tenure whose chief feature was equal division of land among the heirs of the holder.

3. the land so held.

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gavelkind British  

/ ˈɡævəlˌkaɪnd /

noun

1. a former system of land tenure peculiar to Kent based on the payment of rent to the lord instead of the performance of services by the tenant

2. the land subject to such tenure

3. English law (formerly) land held under this system

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Etymology

Origin of gavelkind

1175–1225; Middle English gavelkinde, gavlikind, Old English gafel gavel ² + ( ge ) cynd kind ²

Example Sentences

For similar reasons he was opposed to entails, and favored the application of the just and equal law of gavelkind to the division of intestate estates.

From Benjamin Franklin; Self-Revealed, Volume II (of 2) A Biographical and Critical Study Based Mainly on his own Writings by Bruce, Wiliam Cabell

On the death of a freeholder his land was divided amongst his sons equally, according to what is called "the custom of gavelkind."

From Is Ulster Right? by Anonymous

The estates of persons dying intestate are distributed analogous to the custom of gavelkind in Kent.

From History of New Brunswick by Fisher, Peter

It may be that gavelkind is the older, and that Borough English is a remnant or distortion of what appears, on the face of it, a more equitable condition of things.

From The Customs of Old England by Snell, F. J. (Frederick John)

Their tenures were the gavelkind once prevalent over most of the world.

From Thomas Davis, Selections from his Prose and Poetry by Rolleston, T. W. (Thomas William)