VASSAL

vassal, liege, liegeman, liege subject, feudatory

(noun) a person holding a fief; a person who owes allegiance and service to a feudal lord

Source: WordNet® 3.1


Etymology

Noun

vassal (plural vassals)

(historical) The grantee of a fief, feud, or fee; one who keeps land of a superior, and who vows fidelity and homage to him, normally a lord of a manor; a feudatory; a feudal tenant.

A subordinate

Synonyms: subject, dependant, servant, slave

Adjective

vassal (not comparable)

Resembling a vassal; slavish; servile.

Verb

vassal (third-person singular simple present vassals, present participle vassalling, simple past and past participle 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.

Anagrams

• Salvas, slavas, vasals

Source: Wiktionary


Vas"sal, n. Etym: [F., fr. LL. vassallus, vassus; of Celtic origin; cf. W. & Corn. gwas a youth, page, servant, Arm. gwaz a man, a male. Cf. Valet, Varlet, Vavasor.]

1. (Feud. Law)

Definition: The grantee of a fief, feud, or fee; one who holds land of superior, and who vows fidelity and homage to him; a feudatory; a feudal tenant. Burrill.

2. A subject; a dependent; a servant; a slave. "The vassals of his anger." Milton. Rear vassal, the vassal of a vassal; an arriere vassal.

Vas"sal, a.

Definition: Resembling a vassal; slavish; servile. The sun and every vassal star. Keble.

Vas"sal, v. t.

Definition: To treat as a vassal; to subject to control; to enslave. [Obs.] Beau. & Fl.

Source: Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary 1913 Edition



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Word of the Day

1 June 2025

BACKFIRE

(verb) come back to the originator of an action with an undesired effect; “Your comments may backfire and cause you a lot of trouble”; “the political movie backlashed on the Democrats”


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Coffee Trivia

According to Guinness World Records, the largest coffee shop is the Al Masaa Café, which has 1,050 seats. The coffee shop was inaugurated in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, on 13 August 2014.

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