purpresture
/pəːˈprɛstʃə/Law
noun
1An illegal enclosure of or encroachment upon land or property belonging to another or (now only) to the public; an appropriation of land or property for private purposes.
- Purpresture often affects roads, public waterways, etc., or, especially in the earlier period, royal, manorial, or common lands. In that period the offence was often not prosecuted but instead a rent was levied..
2A payment or rent due to a feudal superior for permission to enclose or build on land. Now historical and rare.
Origin
Middle English; earliest use found in Statutes of the Realm. From Anglo-Norman purpresture and Middle French (Normandy) pourpresture illegal enclosure of or encroachment on land or property belonging to another person or to the public, payment or rent due to a feudal superior for permission to enclose or build on land, further etymology uncertain.