SUBINFEUDATION

Etymology

Noun

subinfeudation (countable and uncountable, plural subinfeudations)

(UK, legal, obsolete) The practice by which tenants, holding land under the king or other superior lord, carved out new and distinct tenures in their turn by subletting or alienating a part of their lands.

Source: Wiktionary

Sub*in`feu*da"tion, n. (Law) (a) The granting of lands by inferior lords to their dependents, to be held by themselves by feudal tenure. Craig. (b) Subordinate tenancy; undertenancy. The widow is immediate tenant to the heir, by a kind of subinfeudation, or undertenancy. Blackstone.

Source: Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary 1913 Edition