chattel
Pronunciation
- IPA: /ˈt͡ʃæt.l̩/[1]
Etymology
It is inherited from Middle English chatel (“property, goods”),[2][3][4][5] from Old French chatel,[2][3][4][6] from Medieval Latin capitāle (“property”),[2][3][4] originally the neuter of Latin capitālis “of the head, chief”.[3] Cattle is the Old North French form of the same word,[4][6][1] and capital is related.[3][1]
Earliest recorded meaning
Property, goods or money, in a collective sense (before 1225).[7][3][4]
Semantic evolution
The collective sense of “property” is obsolete.[7] From 1549 a chattel was a single movable possession, any property other than real estate,[7] and the legal phrase goods and chattels covers all personal property.[7] The word was applied to slaves from the 1640s[4][7] and became a rhetorical figure among abolitionists.[4][7]
Timeline
- before 1225 – property, goods, money.[7][3][4]
- 1549 – a movable possession.[7]
- 1570–76 – goods and chattels.[7]
- 1649 – a slave, chiefly in abolitionist writing.[7][4]
Modern meaning
Noun
- (law) An item of movable personal property, as opposed to land and buildings.
- A slave or bondman.
Related words
- capital
- cattle
Usage notes
Random House refers to property for a discussion of synonyms.[6]
References
- ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
- ^ a b c The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (1992), 3rd ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin
- ^ a b c d e f g Barnhart, Robert K., ed. (1995), The Barnhart Concise Dictionary of Etymology, New York: HarperCollins
- ^ a b c d e f g h i Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
- ^ Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary (2003), 11th ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
- ^ a b c Random House Webster's Unabridged Dictionary (1999), 2nd ed., New York: Random House
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press