feudalism

Etymology

It is formed from English feudal + -ism,^{[2][3][4][5][6]} a coinage of historians.^[5] Feudal, from 1614, is from Medieval Latin feudālis, also feodālis, from feudum (“feudal estate”);^[2][6][5] the OED compares French féodal.^[2] The Medieval Latin noun is of Germanic origin and related to fee:^[5] compare Gothic 𐍆𐌰𐌹𐌷𐌿 (faihu, “property”) and Old High German fihu (“cattle”).^[5] The phrase feudal system is recorded from 1736.^[5]

Earliest recorded meaning

The feudal system: 1773, according to Etymonline.^[5] Merriam-Webster Unabridged dates the word to 1818,^[3] Dictionary.com to 1830–40,^[4] and the OED's first quotation is from 1839, in Thomas Keightley's History of England.^[2][6]

Semantic evolution

The word is a historians' term for the polity of Europe from about the 9th to the 15th century, based on the relation of lord and vassal and on land held in fee.^[3][7][5] It is also used of the principles and customs of that system,^[2][3] and of any later political, economic or social order that resembles it.^[7]

Timeline

• 1773 – the feudal system.^[5] Merriam-Webster Unabridged dates the word to 1818, and the OED's first quotation is from 1839.^[3][2]

Meanings

Noun

1. The political and economic system of medieval Europe, from about the 9th to the 15th century, in which land was held in fief or fee and vassals owed homage and military service to their lords.^[3][7][8]
2. The principles and customs on which that system rested.^[3][2]
3. Any political, economic or social order resembling it.^[7]

Word family

• feudalist
• feudalistic
• antifeudalism
• prefeudalism

Related words

• feudal
• fee
• fief
• feudatory
• vassal

References

1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c d e f g Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
4. ^ a b Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
5. ^ a b c d e f g h i Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
6. ^ a b c Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
7. ^ a b c d The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (1992), 3rd ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin
8. ^ Soanes, Catherine; Stevenson, Angus, eds. (2004), Concise Oxford English Dictionary, 11th ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press