quitrent

American  

[kwit-rent] / ˈkwɪtˌrɛnt /

noun

1. rent rent paid by a freeholder or copyholder in lieu of services that might otherwise have been required.

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quitrent British  

/ ˈkwɪtˌrɛnt /

noun

1. (formerly) a rent payable by a freeholder or copyholder to his lord that released him from liability to perform services

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Etymology

Origin of quitrent

late Middle English word dating back to 1425–75; quit ¹, rent ¹

Example Sentences

At last he had the happiness, while reading his lecture--he was just come to the subject of Forest Salt and Coin Regalities--to descry through the window of his auditorium a quitrent hen suspended, like Ignatius Loyola in prayer, or Juno in her punishment, in middle-air.

From Project Gutenberg

"I begin," said the angling lord of the manor, "with taking Rutcher-dues, for so we call the triple and quintuple of the original quitrent, when the vassal, as is the case here, has long neglected payment."

From Project Gutenberg

On twenty-six specified lots or townships a quitrent of six shillings on every hundred acres was reserved, on twenty-nine lots four shillings, and on eleven lots two shillings, payable annually on one half of the grant at the expiration of five years, and on the whole at the expiration of ten years after the date of the grants.

From Project Gutenberg

An application was made in behalf of officers abroad in the King’s service, who were proprietors of land, praying that the arrears of quitrent due on their lands should be remitted, and that no proceedings should be taken to dispose of those lands for future arrears until the conclusion of the war, when they might be enabled to settle and improve the same.

From Project Gutenberg

I am exceedingly anxious to learn the fate of the quitrent bill.

From Project Gutenberg