hereditament

American  

[her-i-dit-uh-muhnt] / ˌhɛr ɪˈdɪt ə mənt /

noun

Law.

1. any inheritable estate or interest in property.

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hereditament British  

/ ˌhɛrɪˈdɪtəmənt /

noun

1. any kind of property capable of being inherited

2. property that before 1926 passed to an heir if not otherwise disposed of by will

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Etymology

Origin of hereditament

1425–75; late Middle English < Medieval Latin hērēditāmentum, derivative of Late Latin hērēditāre. See hereditable, -ment

Example Sentences

An example of a corporeal hereditament is land held in freehold, of incorporeal hereditaments, tithes, advowsons, pensions, annuities, rents, franchises, &c.

From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 13, Slice 3 "Helmont, Jean" to "Hernosand" by Various

English title in a pew is in the nature of a right of way through another's land; it is an incorporeal hereditament.

From The Clergyman's Hand-book of Law by Scanlan, Charles M.

He concluded that it must be an ancestral hereditament from Athens, Ohio.

From By Advice of Counsel by Train, Arthur Cheney

In this country, on the other hand, we confine the hereditament to property, abrogating it in the case of rank and power.

From Charles I Makers of History by Abbott, Jacob

But that indigence which had prompted the knight to forsake his courtly country for the howling wilderness, was the only remaining hereditament left to his bedwindled descendants in the fourth and fifth remove.

From Pierre; or The Ambiguities by Melville, Herman