vassal
Etymology
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Etymology
From Middle English vassal, from Old French vassal, from Medieval Latin vassallus, from Latin vassus, from Gaulish *wassos, from Proto-Celtic *wastos (compare Old Irish foss and Welsh gwas).
Pronunciation- IPA: /ˈvæsəl/
vassal (plural vassals)
- (historical, law) The grantee of a fief, a subordinate granted use of a superior's land and its income in exchange for vows of fidelity and homage and (typically) military service.
- (historical) Any direct subordinate bound by such vows to a superior.
- Synonyms: subject, dependant, bondsman, villein, serf, helot, thrall, servant, slave
- The king ordered his vassals to join him on the crusade unless they had a written note signed by the archbishop or pope.
- (figurative) Any subordinate bound by similar close ties.
- 1667, John Milton, “Book II”, in Paradise Lost. […], London: […] [Samuel Simmons], and are to be sold by Peter Parker […]; [a]nd by Robert Boulter […]; [a]nd Matthias Walker, […], →OCLC ↗; republished as Paradise Lost in Ten Books: […], London: Basil Montagu Pickering […], 1873, →OCLC ↗:
- The vassals of his anger.
- French: vassal
- German: Vasall, Lehnsmann, Gefolgsmann, Gefolgsleute, Höriger, Klient
- Italian: vassallo
- Portuguese: vassalo
- Russian: васса́л
- Spanish: vasallo
- French: vassal
- German: Vasall, Gefolgsmann, Lakai, Dienstmann, Büttel, Entourage, Scherge, Handlanger, Hucker
- Portuguese: vassalo, servo
- Russian: васса́л
- Spanish: vasallo
vassal (not comparable)
- Resembling a vassal; slavish; servile.
- c. 1595–1596 (date written), William Shakespeare, “Loues Labour's Lost”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC ↗, [Act IV, scene iii]:
- Did they, quoth you? / Who sees the heavenly Rosaline / That, like a rude and savage man of Inde / At the first opening of the gorgeous east / Bows not his vassal head and strucken blind / Kisses the base ground with obedient breast?
vassal (vassals, present participle vassaling; simple past and past participle vassaled)
- (transitive) To treat as a vassal or to reduce to the position of a vassal; to subject to control; to enslave.
- (transitive) To subordinate to someone or something.
- French: vassaliser
- Spanish: avasallar
- French: vassaliser
- Spanish: avasallar
This text is extracted from the Wiktionary and it is available under the CC BY-SA 3.0 license | Terms and conditions | Privacy policy 0.002
