formedon

English

Etymology

From Old French [Term?], from Latin [Term?], so called because the plaintiff claimed “by the form of the gift”: per formam doni.

Noun

formedon (plural formedons)

1. (British, law, historical) A writ of right for a tenant in tail in case of a discontinuance of the estate tail.
   • 1680, Edward Coke, “Mich. 7 Jacobi. In the Common Pleas. Buckmere’s Case.”, in The Reports of Sir Edward Coke, Kt. […], 2nd edition, London: […] H. Twyford, […], →OCLC, part VI, pages 570–571:

     So, if Lands be given to Father and Son, and to the heirs of their two bodies begotten, the remainder over in fee, and afterwards the Father dieth without any Iſſue but the Son, and afterwards the Son dieth without Iſſue, and a Stranger abateth, he in the remainder ſhall have one Formedon in the remainder, although the Eſtate tails were ſeveral, […]

Part or all of this entry has been imported from the 1913 edition of Webster’s Dictionary, which is now free of copyright and hence in the public domain. The imported definitions may be significantly out of date, and any more recent senses may be completely missing.
(See the entry for “formedon”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.)