mainmortableadj.n.
/meɪnˈmɔːtəbl/, U.S. /ˌmeɪnˈmɔrdəb(ə)l/ French Customary Law. Now historical.
A. adj.
Of, relating to, or designating (the possessions of) serfs, all of whose movable possessions at death under French legal custom belonged to their lord or whose most valuable movable went to their lord at death.
ΘΚΠ
society > law > legal right > right of possession or ownership > right to succeed to title, position, or estate > succession > [adjective] > relating to inheritance > unable to be alienated by childless possessor
mainmortable1779
society > authority > subjection > service > feudal service > serfdom > [adjective] > relating to specific type of serf
mainmortable1889
1728 E. Chambers Cycl. Main Morte, a Term in some antient Customs, still obtaining in Burgundy..signifying a Right which the Lord has, on the Death of the Chief of a Family that is Mainmortable (i.e., subject to this Right) of taking the best Moveable in the House.
1779 Gentleman's Mag. 49 544 The mainmortable heritages, situated in our lands and signiories.
1889 M. B. Betham-Edwards in A. Young Trav. France (new ed.) 21 These bond-servants..were up to that time mainmortable.
B. n.
A mainmortable serf.
ΘΚΠ
society > authority > subjection > service > feudal service > serfdom > [noun] > serf > types of
villein regardant1443
helot1579
regardant1646
scallagc1700
borderer1771
bordar1776
mainmortable1779
native (or villein) of stock1828
Penest1835
adscript1837
1779 Gentleman's Mag. 49 545 We ordain that the Droit de Suite over mainmortables shall henceforth be abolished and suppressed.
1882 W. B. Weeden Social Law Labor 84 The lords..held the right to pursuit, by which they could follow a mainmortable who had abandoned the land.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, June 2000; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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adj.n.1728