vavasour
English
Alternative forms
Etymology
From (deprecated template usage) [etyl] Old French vavasour, from (deprecated template usage) [etyl] Medieval Latin vavassor, perhaps from vassus vassorum (“vassal of vassals”).
Pronunciation
Noun
vavasour (plural vavasours)
- (historical) a subvassal; someone holding their lands from a vassal of the crown rather than from the crown directly
- Late 14th century, Geoffrey Chaucer, The Canterbury Tales
- A shirreve hadde he been, and a contour. / Was nowher swich a worthy vavasour.
- 1989, Neil Gaiman, Mike Dringenberg, and Malcolm Jones III, The Doll’s House, The Sandman issue 10
- “Fiddler’s Green is missing? That is passing strange, Lucien. He is, after all, vavasour of his own dominion. And always so… reliable.”
- Late 14th century, Geoffrey Chaucer, The Canterbury Tales
Old French
Alternative forms
Etymology
(deprecated template usage) [etyl] Medieval Latin vavassor
Noun
vavasour oblique singular, m (oblique plural vavasours, nominative singular vavasours, nominative plural vavasour)
- vavasour
- 12th Century, Béroul, Tristan et Iseut:
- […] Et filz a riches vavasors
Qui servoient por armes tuit.- […] And sons with rich subvassals
Who gave everyone arms.
- […] And sons with rich subvassals
Categories:
- English terms derived from Old French
- English terms derived from Medieval Latin
- English 3-syllable words
- English terms with IPA pronunciation
- English lemmas
- English nouns
- English countable nouns
- English terms with historical senses
- Old French terms derived from Medieval Latin
- Old French lemmas
- Old French nouns
- Old French masculine nouns
- Old French terms with quotations