seisin

American  

[see-zin] / ˈsi zɪn /

Sometimes seizin

noun

Law.

1. (originally) possession of either land or chattel.

2. the kind of possession or right to possession characteristic of estates of freehold.

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seisin British  

/ ˈsiːzɪn /

noun

1. property law feudal possession of an estate in land

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Etymology

Origin of seisin

First recorded in 1250–1300; Middle English, from Old French saisine, equivalent to sais(ir) “to take, seize” + -ine noun suffix; see origin at seize, -in(e) ²

Example Sentences

John Franklain is put in seisin of his father's tenement and gives the lord 20s. for entry; pledge, Robert Serjeant.

From Our Legal Heritage June 2011 (Sixth) Edition by Reilly, S. A.

The Dean, the Canon in residence, and the Pr�centor, an active young fellow, consulted their lawyer, and talked largely of ejectment, title, and seisin.

From Laid up in Lavender by Weyman, Stanley J.

Accordingly, judgment was given that R. should recover seisin, and that the Prior should be in mercy.

From The Customs of Old England by Snell, F. J. (Frederick John)

Next he discovered another possession—or so it seemed—approached it and took seisin of it in the same dumb way; and so with another and another.

From The Long Night by Weyman, Stanley John

In May, 1602, he purchased from the Combes for £320 about 107 acres of land near Stratford-on-Avon, of which, as he was not in the town, seisin was granted to his brother Gilbert.

From Shakespeare's Family by Stopes, C. C. (Charlotte Carmichael)