assart: a clearing from woods or waste
bondage: a system whereby land was held for defined services
bovate: an oxgang or the amount of land an ox could plough in a year; one-eighth of a ploughland or carucate
carucate: a unit of taxation in the Danelaw equivalent to eight bovates
chirograph: a formal document, signed and sealed; sometimes copied and sealed twice before separation for each of two parties
curtilage: land on which a dwelling and outbuildings are situated
deforciant: a defendant
demesne: land on a manor that was reserved for a lord's own use
eyre: from the Latin word iter (journey); court of justice held by itinerant royal justices in the shires
fee: lordship
feoffaments: the original form of conveyance
free alms: charitable donation
homage: formal acknowledgement of allegiance to a feudal superior
messuage: a dwelling-house and its surrounding property
moiety: half share
multure: a toll on grain ground at a mill
oxgang: see bovate
reeve: an elected intermediary between a lord and his tenants
rod: a quarter of an acre
seisin: possession of property as distinct from ownership
selions: strips in open fields
soke: land held by free peasants who owed suit of court and other customary dues to the lord of the manor
subinfeudation: the grant of a fief or fee by a chief lord to a sub-tenant on condition of service or payment
syke: a small stream of water, often used as a boundary between lands
tenement: rented property
vill: the smallest unit of local government; a township
villeinage: unfree tenancy of manorial land