Defn: A stipendiary estate in land, held of superior, by service; the right which a vassal or tenant had to the lands or other immovable thing of his lord, to use the same and take the profists thereof hereditarily, rendering to his superior such duties and services as belong to military tenure, etc., the property of the soil always remaining in the lord or superior; a fief; a fee.
FEUDAL
Feu"dal, a. Etym: [F. féodal, or LL. feudalis.]
1. Of or pertaining to feuds, fiefs, or feels; as, feudal rights or services; feudal tenures.
2. Consisting of, or founded upon, feuds or fiefs; embracing tenures by military services; as, the feudal system.
FEUDALISM
Feu"dal*ism, n. Etym: [Cf. F. féodalisme.]
Defn: The feudal system; a system by which the holding of estates in land is made dependent upon an obligation to render military service to the kind or feudal superior; feudal principles and usages.
FEUDALIST
Feu"dal*ist, n.
Defn: An upholder of feudalism.
FEUDALITY
Feu*dal"i*ty, n. Etym: [Cf. F. féodalité.]
Defn: The state or quality of being feudal; feudal form or constitution. Burke.