Etymology

fee tail

Today it means: An estate in land in common law in which the land is inherited, but cannot be sold, devised by will, or otherwise alienated by the owner, but which passes by operation of law to the owner's heirs upon his death. Full definition →

Middle English fee taille ← Anglo-Norman fee tailé ← Medieval Latin foedum talliātum
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The story

  1. Medieval Latin · derived fromfoedum talliātum
  2. Anglo-Norman · derived fromfee tailé
  3. Middle English · inherited fromfee taille
  4. English todayfee tail

From Middle English fee taille, fetayll, from Anglo-Norman fee tailé, from Medieval Latin foedum talliātum.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.