- the economic, political, and social system in medieval Europe, in which land, worked by serfs who were bound to it, was held by vassals in exchange for military and other services given to overlords
- a society organized like that in medieval Europe
noun
Feudalism is defined as a Medieval European political, economic and social system from the 9th to 15th century.
An example of feudalism is someone farming a piece of land for a lord and agreeing to serve under the lord in war in exchange for getting to live on the land and receiving protection.
YourDictionary definition and usage example. Copyright © 2018 by LoveToKnow Corp
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"feudalism." YourDictionary, n.d. Web. 05 December 2018. <https://www.yourdictionary.com/feudalism>.
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feudalism. (n.d.). Retrieved December 05th, 2018, from https://www.yourdictionary.com/feudalism
feudalism
Webster's New World College Dictionary, Fifth Edition Copyright © 2014 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
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MLA Style
"feudalism." YourDictionary, n.d. Web. 05 December 2018. <https://www.yourdictionary.com/feudalism>.
APA Style
feudalism. (n.d.). Retrieved December 05th, 2018, from https://www.yourdictionary.com/feudalism
feudalism
noun
- A political and economic system of Europe from the 9th to about the 15th century, based on the holding of all land in fief or fee and the resulting relation of lord to vassal and characterized by homage, legal and military service of tenants, and forfeiture.
- A political, economic, or social order resembling this medieval system.
Related Forms:
- feu′dal·ist
noun
- feu′dal·is′tic
adjective
THE AMERICAN HERITAGE® DICTIONARY OF THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE, FIFTH EDITION by the Editors of the American Heritage Dictionaries. Copyright © 2016, 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
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MLA Style
"feudalism." YourDictionary, n.d. Web. 05 December 2018. <https://www.yourdictionary.com/feudalism>.
APA Style
feudalism. (n.d.). Retrieved December 05th, 2018, from https://www.yourdictionary.com/feudalism
Noun
(countable and uncountable, plural feudalisms)
- A social system based on personal ownership of resources and personal fealty between a suzerain (lord) and a vassal (subject). Defining characteristics are direct ownership of resources, personal loyalty, and a hierarchical social structure reinforced by religion.
Anagrams
Origin
From feudal + -ism.
English Wiktionary. Available under CC-BY-SA license.
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Cite this page
MLA Style
"feudalism." YourDictionary, n.d. Web. 05 December 2018. <https://www.yourdictionary.com/feudalism>.
APA Style
feudalism. (n.d.). Retrieved December 05th, 2018, from https://www.yourdictionary.com/feudalism
Sentence Examples
- Feudalism was not at any time a national institution.
- Feudalism formed the starting-point also of the later social nobilities of Europe.
- The uniting of the personal and the land sides of feudalism came long after the conquest, and in a different way.
- It is better to say that European feudalism is not to be found in England before the Conquest, not even in its beginnings.
- Feudalism could not be established, however, until the great of the land had adopted them for themselves, and had begun to enter the clientage of others and to hold lands by the precarium tenure.
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Words near feudalism in the dictionary
- feudalism
- feudalisms
- feudalist
- feudalistic