seigniory

English

Alternative forms

• signiory, signory

Etymology

From Middle English seignurie, from Old French seignurie, from seignor + -ie.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈsiːnjəɹi/

Noun

seigniory (countable and uncountable, plural seigniories)

1. The estate of a feudal lord.
   • 1596, [attributed to William Shakespeare; Thomas Kyd], The Raigne of King Edward the Third: […], London: […] [T. Scarlet] for Cuthbert Burby, →OCLC, [Act I, scene i]:

     Robert of Artoys baniſht though thou be, / From Fraunce thy natiue Country, yet with vs, / Thou ſhalt retayne as great a Seigniorie: / For vve create thee Earle of Richmond heere, […]

   • 1601, C[aius] Plinius Secundus [i.e., Pliny the Elder], “[Book V.] Laodicea, Apamia, Ionia, Ephesus.”, in Philemon Holland, transl., The Historie of the World. Commonly Called, The Naturall Historie of C. Plinius Secundus. […], 1st tome, London: […] Adam Islip, →OCLC, page 107:

     A third Seignorie or Shire there is that goeth to Apamia, vvhich in old time vvas called Celænæ, and aftervvards Ciboron: […]

   • 1840 June 8, C[harles] Poulett Thomson, “An Ordinance to incorporate the Ecclesiastics of the Seminary of Saint Sulpice of Montreal; to confirm their title to the Fief and Seigniory of the Island of Montreal, the Fief and Seigniory of the Lake of the Two Mountains, and the Fief and Seigniory of Saint Sulpice, in this Province; to provide for the gradual Extinction of Seignioral Rights and Dues within the Seigniorial Limits of the said Fiefs and Seigniories; and for other Purposes [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 Right and Title of the said Ecclesiastics of the Seminary of Saint Sulpice of Montreal, in and to all and singular the said Fiefs and Seigniories of the Island of Montreal, of the Lake of the Two Mountains, and of Saint Sulpice, and their several Dependencies, and in and to all Seigniorial and Feudal Rights, Privileges, Dues, and Duties arising out of and from the same, and in and to all and every 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. The power or authority of a lord; dominion.
   • 1596 (date written; published 1633), Edmund Spenser, A Vewe of the Present State of Irelande […], Dublin: […] Societie of Stationers, […], →OCLC; republished as A View of the State of Ireland […] (Ancient Irish Histories), Dublin: […] Society of Stationers, […] Hibernia Press, […] [b]y John Morrison, 1809, →OCLC:

     O'Neal never had any seigniory over that country but what by encroachment he got upon the English.

3. (historical) The elders forming the municipal council in a medieval Italian republic.
4. (law) The lordship (authority) remaining to a grantor after the grant of an estate in fee simple.

Synonyms

• fief

Related terms

• seigneur
• seignior
• seigniorage
• seignioral, seigniorial
• seignioralty
• seigniorize
• seigniorship

Anagrams

• Irigoyens