Every once in a while, it can be fun to play around with words. One great thing about genealogy is that there seems to be a nearly endless supply of genealogy jargon, phrases, terminology, or words that you might have never seen before.
Each genealogy dictionary is slightly different from the rest. There is a good chance that you will find at least a few words that are unfamiliar to you. Personally, I think it is fun to find out the meanings of these words and phrases now, when I don’t necessarily “need” them.
I imagine it might be frustrating to come across a word that you didn’t know the meaning of in an ancestor’s vital records. You might have to drop your current genealogy research to go dig up the meaning of that particular word.
So far, I have explored the Genealogy Glossary on the Family Tree Magazine website, and the ROOTS Genealogical Dictionary. This time, I decided to take a look at the glossary of terminology at Genealogy Quest.
What on earth does “enfeoff” mean? It seems to be a verb that means: “To grant property in fee simple; as in a deed the seller “does grant, bargain, sell, alien, enfeoff, release, and confirm unto (the buyer)” certain property”. I have never heard anyone use this word before, and this was the first time I’d seen it in printed form.
After reading that definition, I have a new question. What does “fee simple” actually mean? It turns out that “fee simple” means “Absolute ownership of land to sell of devise without restriction”. It is different from a “fee tail”, which is defined as “An estate of inheritance limited to lineal descendant heirs of a person to whom it was granted”.
The definition of “enfeoff” included the word “alien”. What does that mean, in relation to genealogy? No, it doesn’t mean an extraterrestrial being. In this case, “alien” has two meanings. One definition is a noun: “a foreigner”. The other meaning is a verb: “To transfer property: as in a deed the seller “does grant, bargain, sell, alien, enfeoff, release, and confirm unto (the buyer), certain property”. So, technically speaking, one could choose to alien their property to an alien.
A “manse” is “the residence of a cleric”. A “messuage” is “A dwelling house”. A “barton” is a “farmyard” or “farm not let with the rest of the manor”. A “lodge” is “a chapter or meeting hall of a fraternal organization”.
If a person was “base born” it means that he or she was “born out of wedlock or with low parentage”. On the opposite end of the spectrum, we have the word “gentleman”, which means “A man well born”. A “friend” is not just someone you are connected to on Facebook! It also means “Member of the Religious Society of Friends; A Quaker”.
Image by Dylan Cantwell on Flickr