peculium
- Roman law property that a father or master allowed his child or slave to hold as his own
Show More
Word Origin
C17: from Latin; see peculiar
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition
© William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
Examples from the Web for peculium
Historical Examples
Each had a share of copra, her peculium, to dispose of for herself.
In the South SeasRobert Louis Stevenson
For other references to the peculium for clothing, see Visit.
Medieval English Nunneries c. 1275 to 1535Eileen Edna Power
My peculium I don't recollect, but it could not have exceeded 100.
Thomas CarlyleHector Carsewell Macpherson
If they were not slaves they could not have peculium in the technical sense.
The Letters of CassiodorusCassiodorus (AKA Magnus Aurelius Cassiodorus Senator)
A son could acquire no property but with his father's consent, and what he thus acquired was called his peculium as of a slave.
Roman Antiquities, and Ancient MythologyCharles K. Dillaway