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Webster 1913 Edition


Heriot

Her′i-ot

,
Noun.
[AS.
heregeatu
military equipment, heriot;
here
army +
geatwe
, pl., arms, equipments.]
(Eng. Law)
Formerly, a payment or tribute of arms or military accouterments, or the best beast, or chattel, due to the lord on the death of a tenant; in modern use, a customary tribute of goods or chattels to the lord of the fee, paid on the decease of a tenant.
Blackstone. Bouvier.
Heriot custom
,
a heriot depending on usage.
Heriot service
(Law)
,
a heriot due by reservation in a grant or lease of lands.
Spelman. Blackstone.

Webster 1828 Edition


Heriot

HER'IOT

,
Noun.
In English law, a tribute or fine payable to the lord of the fee on the decease of the owner, landholder, or vassal. Originally this tribute consisted of military furniture, or of horses and arms, as appears by the laws of Canute, C.69. But as defined by modern writers, a heriot is a customary tribute of goods and chattels, payable to the lord of the fee on the decease of the owner of the land; or a render of the best beast or other movables to the lord on the death of the tenant. Heriots were of two sorts; heriot service, which was due by reservation in a grant or lease of lands; and heriot custom, which depended solely on immemorial usage.

Definition 2024


heriot

heriot

English

Noun

heriot (plural heriots)

  1. (obsolete) the return of military equipment
  2. (archaic) a payment made to a lord on the death of a tenant
  3. (dated) a tribute