villeinage

American  

[vil-uh-nij] / ˈvɪl ə nɪdʒ /

Or villainage,

noun

1. the tenure by which a villein held land and tenements from a lord.

2. the condition or status of a villein.

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villeinage British  

/ ˈvɪlənɪdʒ /

noun

1. the status and condition of a villein

2. the tenure by which a villein held his land

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Etymology

Origin of villeinage

1275–1325; Middle English vilenage < Anglo-French, Old French. See villein, -age

Example Sentences

In Scotland they had just been emancipated from the status of villeinage.

From Recent Developments in European Thought by Various

Once elected, whether by the actual ceremony or by a survival of it, he assumed control over the tenants in villeinage and over the waste lands of the tribe.

From The Fijians A Study of the Decay of Custom by Thomson, Basil

The fathers early enacted that there should be neither bond slaves nor villeinage amongst us except captives taken in just wars and those condemned judicially to serve.

From Masterpieces of Negro Eloquence The Best Speeches Delivered by the Negro from the days of Slavery to the Present Time by Dunbar-Nelson, Alice Moore

A plea had been set up that villeinage had never been abolished by law in England; ergo, the possession of slaves was not illegal.

From Toronto of Old by Scadding, Henry

The second court was the "court customary," which dealt with cases connected with villeinage.

From The Leading Facts of English History by Montgomery, D. H. (David Henry)