hereditament

English

Etymology

Inherited from Middle English hereditament, from Anglo-Norman hereditament or its etymon Medieval Latin hērēditāmentum, from Late Latin hērēditō (“to inherit”), from hērēs (“heir”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /hɪˈɹɛdɪtəmənt/, /hɛɹɪˈdɪtəmənt/

Noun

hereditament (plural hereditaments)

1. (law) Property which can be inherited.
   • 1749, Henry Fielding, Tom Jones, Folio Society, published 1979, page 25:

     The captain […] had been greatly enamoured; that is to say, of Mr Allworthy's house and gardens, and of his lands, tenements, and hereditaments […].

   • 1840 June 8, C[harles] Poulett Thomson, “An Ordinance to incorporate the Ecclesiastics of the Seminary of Saint Sulpice of Montreal[No. 164 of 1840]”, in Copy of Ordinances Passed by the Governor and Special Council of Lower Canada, in the Third and Fourth Years of the Reign of Her Majesty Queen Victoria (Accounts and Papers. United Kingdom. Parliament. House of Commons; 1841, session 1), volume XV, published 3 February 1841, →OCLC, pages 151–152:

     And be it further ordained and enacted by the Authority aforesaid, That […] the Domains, Lands, Reservations, Buildings, Messuages, Tenements, and Hereditaments within the said several Fiefs and Seigniories now held and possessed by them as Proprietors thereof, […] shall be and they are hereby confirmed and declared good, valid, and effectual in the Law […] .

2. Inheritance; the act of inheriting.

Middle English

Etymology

Borrowed from Anglo-Norman hereditament or its etymon Medieval Latin hērēditāmentum, from Late Latin hērēditō (“to inherit”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ɛrɛˌditaˈmɛnt/, /ɛrɛˈditamɛnt/, /ɛːrɛ-/

Noun

hereditament (plural hereditamentes)

1. (Late Middle English, inheritance law, rare) Something inheritable; a hereditament.

Descendants

• English: hereditament

References

• “hērēditāment, n.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007.