vassal
Plural: vassals
Noun
- A person in a feudal system owing allegiance and service to a lord.
- a person holding a fief; a person who owes allegiance and service to a feudal lord
- The grantee of a fief, a subordinate granted use of a superior's land and its income in exchange for vows of fidelity and homage and (typically) military service.
- Any direct subordinate bound by such vows to a superior.
- Any subordinate bound by similar close ties.
Adj
- Resembling a vassal; slavish; servile.
Verb
- To treat as a vassal or to reduce to the position of a vassal; to subject to control; to enslave.
- To subordinate to someone or something.
Examples
- As VASSAL to the Scrabble dictionary, he never questioned its authority.
- The king ordered his vassals to join him on the crusade unless they had a written note signed by the archbishop or pope.
- The manor's vassals owed first fruits and a tithe to the parish church, another 10% to the lord (including at least 50 eels), a week or two each year of service in the manor's upkeep, and service in the local fyrd.
Origin / Etymology
From Middle English vassal, from Old French vassal, from Medieval Latin vassallus (“manservant, domestic, retainer”), from Latin vassus (“servant”), from Gaulish *wassos (“young man, squire”), from Proto-Celtic *wastos (“servant”) (compare Old Irish foss and Welsh gwas).
Synonyms
feudatory, liege, liege subject, liegeman, bondsman, dependant, feudal tenant, helot, serf, servant, slave, subject, thrall, villein
Scrabble Score: 9
vassal: valid Scrabble (US) TWL Wordvassal: valid Scrabble Word in Merriam-Webster MW Dictionary
vassal: valid Scrabble Word in International Collins CSW Dictionary