fee tail

noun

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.

OriginMiddle English fee taille ← Anglo-Norman fee tailé ← Medieval Latin foedum talliātum →
Ask AI about this wordChatGPTClaudePerplexityGoogle AIGrok

Meanings

nounfee tail (plural fees tail)

plural fees tail

  1. lawAn 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.

Origin

  1. Medieval Latinfoedum talliātum
  2. Anglo-Normanfee tailé
  3. Middle Englishfee taille
  4. Englishfee tail

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

More words from Middle English, Anglo-Norman, Medieval Latin

Full word history & related roots →

Translations

Chinese Mandarin 限嗣繼承地產 /限嗣继承地产
  • 限嗣繼承地產 /限嗣继承地产 (xiànsì jìchéng dìchǎn)estate in land in common law wherein the land is inherited
Danish fideikommis
  • fideikommisestate in land in common law wherein the land is inherited
Finnish sääntöperintötila, fideikomissi
  • sääntöperintötilaestate in land in common law wherein the land is inherited
  • fideikomissiestate in land in common law wherein the land is inherited
Polish ordynacja
  • ordynacjaestate in land in common law wherein the land is inherited
Cite this entry
APA

fee tail. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/fee%20tail

MLA

“fee tail.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/fee%20tail. Accessed November 3, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “fee tail,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/fee%20tail.

Source: fee tail on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.