frankpledge
Word Rarity
Very rare
Frequency: Zipf frequency 1.16 in modern English
22
Scrabble Score
11
Letters
1
Syllables
10
Unique Chars
Meaning
noun
A form of collective suretyship and punishment under English law among the members of a tithing.
noun
Any group so similarly answerable for the conduct of all its members and liable for collective punishment.
Example Sentences
- "King John granted to the prior and convent, in all their manors and lands, sac, soc, tol, and theam, infangenthef, and outfangenthef, with the ordeals or judgment by fire, water, and iron, and a common gallows in each manor; with a view of frankenpledge, and assize of bread and ale, of all their tenants..."
- "The servants of the Crown were not, as now, bound in frankpledge for each other."
- "Entire vills sir Henry Spelman conjectures to have consisted of ten freemen, or frank-pledges."
Etymology
From Anglo-Latin franciplegium, a Latinization of Anglo-Norman frauncplege ("free pledge"), a mistranslation of Old English friðborh ("pledge of peace"), which had the corrupted form friborh, which led to the Modern English term friborg, as if it were *freoborh ("free pledge"). See also friborg, which refers to the predecessor of frankpledge.