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free bench. In DICTIOUS you will not only get to know all the dictionary meanings for the word
free bench, but we will also tell you about its etymology, its characteristics and you will know how to say
free bench in singular and plural. Everything you need to know about the word
free bench you have here. The definition of the word
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free bench, as well as those of other words, enriches your vocabulary and provides you with more and better linguistic resources.
English
Etymology
From free + bench, after Anglo-Norman franc banc (“frank bank”).
Noun
free bench (uncountable)
- (law, historical) A married woman's entitlement to the use of her husband's lands or property after he dies; or the land and property itself considered as such an entitlement.
1808, William Cruise, A Digest of the Laws of England Respecting Real Property, page 329:In most manors, free-bench consists of one half of the husband's copyhold; although, in others, it consists of a third or fourth part, and in some few, of the whole copyhold.
1971, Keith Thomas, Religion and the Decline of Magic, Folio Society, published 2012, page 541:The widow enjoyed the right of freebench, that is, of succession to a portion of her late husband's holding, ranging from a quarter to the whole, according to local manorial custom.
1987, Judith M Bennett, Women in the Medieval English Countryside, page 165:Some widows in Brigstock also probably sold free bench lands, despite the customary restriction on such sales.