vassal
/ˈvæsəl/
Word Rarity
Rare
Frequency: Zipf frequency 2.92 in modern English
9
Scrabble Score
6
Letters
2
Syllables
4
Unique Chars
Meaning
noun
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.
adj
Resembling a vassal; slavish; servile.
Example Sentences
- "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."
- "It was superimposed on rules of conduct evolved at an earlier date as the spontaneous expression of class consciousness; rules that pertained to the fealty of vassals (the transition appears clearly, towards the end of the eleventh century, in the Book of the Christian Life by Bishop Bonizo of Sutri, for whom the knight is, first and foremost, an enfeoffed vassal ) and constituted above all a class code of noble and 'courteous' people."
- "The king ordered his vassals to join him on the crusade unless they had a written note signed by the archbishop or pope."
- "The vassals of his anger."
- "Did they, quoth you? / Who sees the heavenly Rosaline / That, like a rude and savage man of Inde / At the first opening of the gorgeous east / Bows not his vassal head and strucken blind / Kisses the base ground with obedient breast?"
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).
Origin
Word Breakdown
- Root: vassal, vassallus, vassus, *wassos, *wastos