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

And if any one depart this life intestate, be it through his neglect, be it through sudden death; then let not the lord draw more from his property than his lawful heriot.

From Popular Law-making by Stimson, Frederic Jesup

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

Free tenants were also frequently bound to pay relief and heriot.

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

When the lord was an ecclesiastical corporation he not unfrequently got two beasts, one as a heriot and the other as a mortuary due to him as rector of the parish.

From Villainage in England Essays in English Mediaeval History by Vinogradoff, Paul

But the fine paid on the inheritance of their land was less definitely restricted in amount, and heriot was more universally and more regularly collected.

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