gavelkind
(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.
a customary system of land tenure whose chief feature was equal division of land among the heirs of the holder.
the land so held.
Origin of gavelkind
1Words Nearby gavelkind
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024
How to use gavelkind in a sentence
On the death of a freeholder his land was divided amongst his sons equally, according to what is called "the custom of gavelkind."
Is Ulster Right? | Anonymousgavelkind may be derived from gabel, a fork or branch, and the word is used in Ireland as well as in Kent.
The English Village Community | Frederic SeebohmIt is taken from notes to the third edition of Robinson's valuable work on gavelkind, p. 391.
It is more correctly described as socage tenure, subject to the custom of gavelkind.
The gavelkind or tributary tenure there was subjected to equal partition among the heirs.
Villainage in England | Paul Vinogradoff
British Dictionary definitions for gavelkind
/ (ˈɡævəlˌkaɪnd) /
a former system of land tenure peculiar to Kent based on the payment of rent to the lord instead of the performance of services by the tenant
the land subject to such tenure
English law (formerly) land held under this system
Origin of gavelkind
1Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
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