butlerage

[ buht-ler-ij ]

noun

, Old English Law.

1. the privilege allowed the king's butler to take a certain quantity of every cask of wine imported by an alien.

Word History and Origins

Origin of butlerage¹

First recorded in 1485–95; butler + -age

Example Sentences

There is also another antient hereditary duty belonging to the crown, called the prisage or butlerage of wines.

From Project Gutenberg

Butlerage ceased to be levied in 1809, by the Customs Consolidation Act of that year.

From Project Gutenberg

In like manner the Duke of Grafton was indemnified in 1806 for loss incurred through the resumption of the "prisage and butlerage" of wines; nor was Lord Gwydir permitted to suffer by the compulsory surrender of his lease in the mooring-chains.

From Project Gutenberg