merchet
Britishnoun
Etymology
Origin of merchet
C13: from Anglo-French, literally: market
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.
He laboured under many disabilities, such as the merchet or fine for marrying his daughter, and fines for selling horse or ox.
From A Short History of English Agriculture by Curtler, W. H. R. (William Henry Ricketts)
To tenure, merchet, being a personal payment, should have no relation whatever.
From Villainage in England Essays in English Mediaeval History by Vinogradoff, Paul
The difference between villein and free man lessened but landlords usually still had profits of villein bondage, such as heriot, merchet, and chevage.
From Our Legal Heritage by Reilly, S. A.
O liberales clerics N� merchet rehte wi dem si Date: vobis dabitur Ir s�lt lan offen iwer t�r Vagis et egentibus So gewinnet ihr das himelh�s, Et in perenni gaudio Alsus als�, alsus als�!
From Gaudeamus! Humorous Poems by Scheffel, Joseph Victor von
But the merchet, or fine paid for marriage, must have been a bitter burden, while the heriot, or mortuary, is to modern ideas an exaction of unredeemed iniquity.
From Chaucer and His England by Coulton, G. G.
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.
