virgate

English

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virgate

Etymology 1

Borrowed from Latin virgāta, from Old English ġeardland, "yard" compared to "virga" as a measuring rod. Doublet of vergée.

Pronunciation

(US) IPA^(key): /vɜɹˈɡeɪt/, /ˈvɝɡət/
(UK) IPA^(key): /ˈvɜːɡət/
Audio (Southern England): (file)
Rhymes: (US) -eɪt

Noun

virgate (plural virgates)

(historical) The yardland: an obsolete English land measure usually comprising ¹⁄₄ of a hide and notionally equal to 30 acres.

Usage notes

The hide was originally intended to represent the amount of land farmed by a single household but was primarily connected to obligations owed to the Saxon and Norman kings and thus varied greatly from place to place. Around the time of the Domesday Book under the Normans, the hide was usually but not always the land expected to produce £1 (1 Tower pound of sterling silver) in income over the year, meaning the yardland was expected to produce five shillings (3 Tower ounces of sterling silver). In fact, the yardland became associated with its own obligations and thus also varied, in some places being reckoned as ¹⁄₆ of a hide rather than ¹⁄₄. Virgate is a later retronym used to distinguish the unit from the yard of 3 feet.