enfeoff


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en·feoff

 (ĕn-fēf′, -fĕf′)
tr.v. en·feoffed, en·feoff·ing, en·feoffs
To invest with a feudal estate or fee.

[Middle English enfeffen, from Anglo-Norman enfeoffer : Old French en-, causative pref.; see en-1 + Old French fief, fief; see fee.]

en·feoff′ment n.
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

enfeoff

(ɪnˈfiːf)
vb (tr)
1. (Law) property law to invest (a person) with possession of a freehold estate in land
2. (Historical Terms) (in feudal society) to take (someone) into vassalage by giving a fee or fief in return for certain services
[C14: from Anglo-French enfeoffer; see fief]
enˈfeoffment n
Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014

en•feoff

(ɛnˈfɛf, -ˈfif)

v.t.
to invest with a freehold estate in land.
[1350–1400; Middle English enfe(o)ffen < Anglo-French enfe(o)ffer=en- en-1 + Old French fiefer, fiever, derivative of fief fief]
en•feoff′ment, n.
Random House Kernerman Webster's College Dictionary, © 2010 K Dictionaries Ltd. Copyright 2005, 1997, 1991 by Random House, Inc. All rights reserved.

enfeoff


Past participle: enfeoffed
Gerund: enfeoffing

Imperative
enfeoff
enfeoff
Present
I enfeoff
you enfeoff
he/she/it enfeoffs
we enfeoff
you enfeoff
they enfeoff
Preterite
I enfeoffed
you enfeoffed
he/she/it enfeoffed
we enfeoffed
you enfeoffed
they enfeoffed
Present Continuous
I am enfeoffing
you are enfeoffing
he/she/it is enfeoffing
we are enfeoffing
you are enfeoffing
they are enfeoffing
Present Perfect
I have enfeoffed
you have enfeoffed
he/she/it has enfeoffed
we have enfeoffed
you have enfeoffed
they have enfeoffed
Past Continuous
I was enfeoffing
you were enfeoffing
he/she/it was enfeoffing
we were enfeoffing
you were enfeoffing
they were enfeoffing
Past Perfect
I had enfeoffed
you had enfeoffed
he/she/it had enfeoffed
we had enfeoffed
you had enfeoffed
they had enfeoffed
Future
I will enfeoff
you will enfeoff
he/she/it will enfeoff
we will enfeoff
you will enfeoff
they will enfeoff
Future Perfect
I will have enfeoffed
you will have enfeoffed
he/she/it will have enfeoffed
we will have enfeoffed
you will have enfeoffed
they will have enfeoffed
Future Continuous
I will be enfeoffing
you will be enfeoffing
he/she/it will be enfeoffing
we will be enfeoffing
you will be enfeoffing
they will be enfeoffing
Present Perfect Continuous
I have been enfeoffing
you have been enfeoffing
he/she/it has been enfeoffing
we have been enfeoffing
you have been enfeoffing
they have been enfeoffing
Future Perfect Continuous
I will have been enfeoffing
you will have been enfeoffing
he/she/it will have been enfeoffing
we will have been enfeoffing
you will have been enfeoffing
they will have been enfeoffing
Past Perfect Continuous
I had been enfeoffing
you had been enfeoffing
he/she/it had been enfeoffing
we had been enfeoffing
you had been enfeoffing
they had been enfeoffing
Conditional
I would enfeoff
you would enfeoff
he/she/it would enfeoff
we would enfeoff
you would enfeoff
they would enfeoff
Past Conditional
I would have enfeoffed
you would have enfeoffed
he/she/it would have enfeoffed
we would have enfeoffed
you would have enfeoffed
they would have enfeoffed
Collins English Verb Tables © HarperCollins Publishers 2011
ThesaurusAntonymsRelated WordsSynonymsLegend:
Verb1.enfeoff - put in possession of land in exchange for a pledge of service, in feudal society; "He enfeoffed his son-in-law with a large estate in Scotland"
give - transfer possession of something concrete or abstract to somebody; "I gave her my money"; "can you give me lessons?"; "She gave the children lots of love and tender loving care"
Based on WordNet 3.0, Farlex clipart collection. © 2003-2012 Princeton University, Farlex Inc.
References in classic literature ?
And then, was it nothing to wield absolute supremacy over the sergeants of the police, the porter and watch of the Châtelet, the two auditors of the Châtelet, auditores castelleti , the sixteen commissioners of the sixteen quarters, the jailer of the Châtelet, the four enfeoffed sergeants, the hundred and twenty mounted sergeants, with maces, the chevalier of the watch with his watch, his sub-watch, his counter-watch and his rear-watch?
Mediante esta ultima, un Lord senor feudal (en viejo frances anglo--normado medieval = feoffor (88) use)investia (enfeoff (89)) y transmitia la propiedad de su inmueble (freehold state in land) a uno o varios terceros feoffees in use, para que estos ultimos lo conservasen, explotasen (management) y retornasen ciertos bienes y servicios en beneficio de uno o varios terceros: cestui que use le feoffment fuit fait (90).
e (as in pet) e ea ae a eo o et ue ei bedspread aesthetic Demerara enfeoff encrimsoned estaminet pedagoguette (a nonce word for a school-mistress) Seignette (a 17th century French chemist)
("We discard the archaic rule that one cannot enfeoff oneself....
The above mentioned Chiefs Iramoo being possessed of the tract of Land hereinafter mentioned for and in consideration of Twenty Pair of Blankets, Thirty / Tomahawks, One Hundred Knives [two illegible words] Scissors, Thirty Looking Glasses, Two Hundred Handkerchiefs, and one Hundred Pounds of Flour, and Six Shirts / delivered to Us by John Batman residing in Van Diemens Land Esquire but at present sojourning with us and our Tribe Do for ourselves our / Heirs and Successors Give Grant Enfeoff and confirm unto the said John Batman his heirs and assigns All that tract of Country situate and being at Port Phillip, Runing / from the branch of the River at the top of the Port about 7 Miles from the mouth of the River, Forty Miles North East and from thence-West.
they criticize Leo Buss for thinking that sequestering the germ line helps enfeoff a metazoan's somatic cells to the good of their organism: I find this contradiction as incomprehensible as it is uncharacteristic).
Though Figura does not enfeoff Eve with Paradise, it is clear that she has a right to remain there so long as she upholds her part of the contract, so long as she renders God the "servise" due Him both in loyalty and in obedience to the "droiz de mariage." Of course, technically a woman in the twelfth century could not have been a vassal; as Morgan points out, Eve's "sex debars her from the obligations of such a contract."(10) Yet it is evident that the Mystere author depicts Eve as such, perhaps recalling a scripturally-based hierarchy that would deem male and female alike "vassals of God" by virtue of their mutual subservience to the Creator.
They apparently refused to treat Luo with the respect accorded an elder brother and attempted unsuccessfully to block the Empress' plan to enfeoff him.
In an effort to trump the Catholics at their own game, Jewel even implicitly ascribed priestly powers to Elizabeth: "Jewel's purpose was to strip the papal claims to sovereignty from the pope, and having done this, to enfeoff them to Elizabeth" (108).
(41-48) Though Figura does not enfeoff Eve with Paradise, it is clear that she has a right to remain there so long as she upholds her part of the contract, so long as she renders God the "servise" due Him both in loyalty and in obedience to the "droiz de mariage." Of course, technically a woman in the twelfth century could not have been a vassal; as Morgan points out, Eve's "sex debars her from the obligations of such a contract." (10) Yet it is evident that the Mystere author depicts Eve as such, perhaps recalling a scripturally-based hierarchy that would deem male and female alike "vassals of God" by virtue of their mutual subservience to the Creator.