headright
Americannoun
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Law. a beneficial interest for each member of an Indian tribe in the tribal trust fund accruing from the lease of tribal oil, gas, and mineral rights, the sale of tribal lands, etc.
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American History. a grant of land, usually 50 acres to a settler, given by certain colonies and companies in the 17th and 18th centuries.
Etymology
Origin of headright
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Then Anthony Johnson bought a farm near the tip of the Delmarva Peninsula through the Virginia Colony’s headright system.
From Slate • May 18, 2015
Then Anthony Johnson bought a farm near the tip of the Delmarva Peninsula through The Virginia Colony’s headright system.
From Slate • May 18, 2015
The headright system and the promise of a new life for servants acted as powerful incentives for English migrants to hazard the journey to the New World.
From Textbooks • Dec. 30, 2014
Hale knew that the law prevented anyone from buying or selling a headright, but he’d been confident that lobbying pressure from influential whites would soon eliminate this prohibition.
From "Killers of the Flower Moon" by David Grann
With this document, he would no longer be designated a ward of the government, and he could spend his headright payments as he pleased.
From "Killers of the Flower Moon" by David Grann
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
