heriot

American  

[her-ee-uht] / ˈhɛr i ət /

noun

English Law.

1. a feudal service or tribute, originally of borrowed military equipment and later of a chattel, due to the lord on the death of a tenant.

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heriot British  

/ ˈhɛrɪət /

noun

1. (in medieval England) a death duty paid by villeins and free tenants to their lord, often consisting of the dead man's best beast or chattel

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Etymology

Origin of heriot

before 900; Middle English heriot, heriet, Old English heregeate, heregeatu, heregeatwa war gear, equivalent to here army + geate, etc., equipment; cognate with Old Norse gǫtvar (plural)

Example Sentences

The heriot of a military tenant was his arms and habiliments of war, which belonged to the lord for the purpose of equipping his successor.

From Legal Lore Curiosities of Law and Lawyers by Various

Bishop Barrow, who ascended the episcopal throne at Carlisle in 1423, anathematized all men who took the heriot before “the Holy Kirke” got the mortuary.

From Bygone Cumberland and Westmorland by Scott, Daniel

The heriot of a virgate was generally an ox, or money payment of its value.

From The Enclosures in England An Economic Reconstruction by Bradley, Harriett

"Nay," returned the leering half-wit, "I was but a-thinking, that if he does, may be his master too will want a heriot."

From Traditions of Lancashire, Volume 1 by Roby, John

The required relief was there assessed, and the heriot from the property of the deceased recorded.

From An Introduction to the Industrial and Social History of England by Cheyney, Edward Potts