feudatory

American  

[fyoo-duh-tawr-ee, -tohr-ee] / ˈfyu dəˌtɔr i, -ˌtoʊr i /

noun

plural

feudatories

1. a person who holds lands by feudal tenure; a feudal vassal.

2. a fief or fee.

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adjective

1. (of a kingdom or state) under the overlordship of another sovereign or state.

2. (of a feudal estate) holding or held by feudal tenure.

feudatory British  

/ -trɪ, ˈfjuːdətərɪ /

noun

1. a person holding a fief; vassal

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adjective

1. relating to or characteristic of the relationship between lord and vassal

2. (esp of a kingdom) under the overlordship of another sovereign

Etymology

Origin of feudatory

1585–95; < Medieval Latin feudā ( tor ) fief-holder ( see feud ², -ator) + -tory ¹, -tory ² )

Example Sentences

"But Indore has been a powerful feudatory of the Raj," it said.

From BBC • Jan. 11, 2025

Burma, her quondam feudatory, also agreed to a delimitation of boundaries at the proper time.

From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 6, Slice 2 "Chicago, University of" to "Chiton" by Various

This most disheartening record underwent a complete change in 1576, when the son of the Bungo feudatory, a youth of some sixteen years, and, two years later, the feudatory himself, Otomo, embraced the Christian faith.

From A History of the Japanese People From the Earliest Times to the End of the Meiji Era by Brinkley, F. (Frank)

COCHIN, a feudatory state of southern India, in political subordination to Madras, with an area of 1361 sq. m.

From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 6, Slice 5 "Clervaux" to "Cockade" by Various

England, the presenting the villein with free arms, seems to have been the symbol of his restoration to all the rights which a feudatory was entitled to.

From Dissertation on Slavery With a Proposal for the Gradual Abolition of it, in the State of Virginia by Tucker, St. George