[gav-uh
l-kahynd] 
| 1. | (originally) a tenure of land in which the tenant was liable for a rental in money or produce rather than for labor or military service. |
| 2. | a customary system of land tenure whose chief feature was equal division of land among the heirs of the holder. |
| 3. | the land so held. |
| gav·el·kind (gāv'əl-kīnd') n. An English system of land tenure from Anglo-Saxon times to 1926 that provided for the equal division of land among all qualified heirs. [Middle English gavelkinde : Old English gafol, gavel; see gavel2 + Old English gecynd, kind; see kind2.] |