vassal
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English
Alternative forms
- vasal (rare)
Etymology
From Middle English vassal, from Old French vassal, from Medieval Latin vassallus (“manservant, domestic, retainer”), from Latin vassus (“servant”), from Gaulish *wassos (“young man, squire”), from Proto-Celtic *wastos (“servant”) (compare Old Irish foss and Welsh gwas).
Pronunciation
Noun
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.
- (figurative) Any subordinate bound by similar close ties.
- 1667, John Milton, “Book II”, in Paradise Lost. , London: [Samuel Simmons], , →OCLC; republished as Paradise Lost in Ten Books: , London: Basil Montagu Pickering , 1873, →OCLC:
- The vassals of his anger.
Derived terms
Related terms
Translations
grantee of a fief
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servant
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Adjective
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 Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, :
- 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?
Translations
- The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.
Verb
vassal (third-person singular simple present vassals, present participle vassaling or vassalling, simple past and past participle vassaled or vassalled)
- (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.
Translations
to treat as a vassal or to reduce to the position of a vassal; to subject to control; to enslave — see also enslave
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to subordinate to someone or something — see also subordinate
Anagrams
French
Etymology
From Old French vassal, from Medieval Latin vassallus (“manservant, domestic, retainer”), from Latin vassus (“servant”), from Gaulish *wassos (“young man, squire”), from Proto-Celtic *wastos (“servant”) (compare Old Irish foss and Welsh gwas).
Pronunciation
Adjective
vassal (feminine vassale, masculine plural vassaux, feminine plural vassales)
Noun
vassal m (plural vassaux, feminine vassale)
- a vassal
Descendants
Further reading
- “vassal”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé , 2012.
Anagrams
Hungarian
Etymology
vas (“iron”) + -val (“with”, instrumental case suffix)
Pronunciation
Noun
vassal
Derived terms
Middle English
Alternative forms
Etymology
From Old French vassal.
Pronunciation
Noun
vassal (plural vassalles)
- A feudal retainer, who is obliged to render military service.
- A servant to one’s beloved, professed lover.
- As surname.
Descendants
References
- “vassal, n.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007.
Old French
Noun
vassal oblique singular, m (oblique plural vassaus or vassax or vassals, nominative singular vassaus or vassax or vassals, nominative plural vassal)