Meanings
plural husbandlands
- historicalThe landholding of a husbandman, that is, a manorial tenant.
The complexity of a man’s relationship to lord and neighbour is well illustrated by a grant of land at Dilston in Northumberland to Geoffrey de Cokeside 1339. He received a husbandland (probably of 25 acres) to hold at will for 30s. yearly, a more or less economic rent.
1988, Edward Miller, “Social Structure: Northern England”, in H. E. Hallam, editor, The Agrarian History of England and Wales, volumes 2, 1042–1350, →ISBN, page 698 - historicalA unit of land corresponding to a single farmstead; around 26 acres.
‘Coldlands’ of c 1715 can be traced as the ‘Cald Lands’, a six-husbandland unit in 1596 (Milne Home, no 371). These 6 husbandlands (156 acres in theory) are very nearly identical with the 157 measured acres of the survey.
2001, J. Donnelly, “In the territory of Auchencrow: long continuity or late development in early Scottish field-systems?”, in Proceedings of the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland, volume 130, page 760
Origin
- Middle Englishhusbondeland
- Englishhusbandland
From Middle English husbondeland, equivalent to husband + land.
More words from Middle English
Full word history & related roots →Cite this entry
husbandland. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/husbandland
“husbandland.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/husbandland. Accessed November 4, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “husbandland,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/husbandland.
Source: husbandland on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.