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

See Examples For:

seisin

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)

But the statute not only failed to abolish uses: it also opened the way to the evasion of the public ceremony of livery of seisin, and the avoidance of all notoriety in conveyances.

From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 7, Slice 3 "Convention" to "Copyright" by Various

The first is a fine for having seisin of the lands of the deceased mother of the two suitors, William de Warburton and Ingelram de Monceaux.

From Notes and Queries, Number 68, February 15, 1851 A Medium of Inter-communication for Literary Men, Artists, Antiquaries, Genealogists, etc. by Bell, George

Gilles, nevertheless, took primer seisin and was content.

From The Life and Death of Richard Yea-and-Nay by Hewlett, Maurice Henry

Smith is put in seisin of his father's tenement and gives the lord four pounds for entry money.

From Our Legal Heritage, 5th Ed. by Reilly, S. A.