fee tail

fee tail

n. pl. fees tail

An estate in land that may only be passed on to lineal descendants.

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[Middle English fe taille, from Anglo-Norman fee taile : fee, fee; see fee + Old French taile, past participle of tailier, to cut; see tailor.]

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.

fee tail

n

(Law) property law

a. a freehold interest in land restricted to a particular line of heirs

b. an estate in land subject to such restriction. Compare fee simple

[C15: from Anglo-French fee tailé fee (or fief) determined, from taillier to cut]

Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014

fee

(fi)

n., v. feed, fee•ing. n.

1. a sum charged or paid, as for professional services or for a privilege: a doctor's fee; an admission fee.

2. Law.

a. an estate of inheritance, either without limitation to a particular class of heirs (fee simple) or limited to one particular class of heirs (fee tail).

b. (in the Middle Ages) estate lands held of a feudal lord in return for services performed.

c. a territory held in fee.

3. a gratuity; tip.

v.t.

4. to give a gratuity to; tip.

5. Chiefly Scot. to hire; employ.

Idioms:

in fee, in full ownership: an estate held in fee.

[1250–1300; Middle English < Anglo-French; Old French fie, variant of fief fief]

fee′less, adj.

Random House Kernerman Webster's College Dictionary, © 2010 K Dictionaries Ltd. Copyright 2005, 1997, 1991 by Random House, Inc. All rights reserved.

Thesaurus

Noun

1.

fee tail - a fee limited to a particular line of heirs; they are not free to sell it or give it away fee - an interest in land capable of being inherited

Based on WordNet 3.0, Farlex clipart collection. © 2003-2012 Princeton University, Farlex Inc.