Dictionary.com
Thesaurus.com

heriot

American  
[her-ee-uht] / ˈhɛr i ət /

noun

English Law.

  1. a feudal service or tribute, originally of borrowed military equipment and later of a chattel, due to the lord on the death of a tenant.

heriot British  
/ ˈhɛrɪət /

noun

  1. (in medieval England) a death duty paid by villeins and free tenants to their lord, often consisting of the dead man's best beast or chattel

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Etymology

Origin of heriot

before 900; Middle English heriot, heriet, Old English heregeate, heregeatu, heregeatwa war gear, equivalent to here army + geate, etc., equipment; cognate with Old Norse gǫtvar (plural)

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.