socage

or soc·cage

[sok-ij]

noun Medieval English Law.

a tenure of land held by the tenant in performance of specified services or by payment of rent, and not requiring military service.

Origin of socage

1275–1325; Middle English sokage < Anglo-French socage, equivalent to soc soke + -age -age

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Examples from the Web for socage

Historical Examples of socage

New conditions of holding superior to that of "socage" were introduced.
The Danes in Lancashire and Yorkshire
S. W. Partington
A third part he divided among husbandmen, to hold of him in socage.
Landholding In England
Joseph Fisher
But did any hold of the king in socage, except on his demesne lands?
View of the State of Europe during the Middle Ages, Vol. 3 (of 3)
Henry Hallam
It is a stepping-stone from villainage to socage, or rather to socman's tenure.
Villainage in England
Paul Vinogradoff
It speaks of three species of socage—free, ancient demesne, and base.
Villainage in England
Paul Vinogradoff

British Dictionary definitions for socage

socage

noun

English legal history the tenure of land by certain services, esp of an agricultural nature
English law the freehold tenure of land

Derived Formssocager, noun

Word Origin for socage

C14: from Anglo-French, from soc soke

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