▪ I. † enˈtail, n.1 Obs.
Forms: 4 entaille, 4–7 entaile, -yle, (4 Sc. eyntayill, 5 entaylle, -eyle).
[a. OF. entaille fem., n. of action f. entailler entail v.1; cf. Pr. entalh, OSp. entalle, Pg. entalho, It. intaglio masc., of similar meaning.]
I. Cutting, carving; pattern or shape.
1. Ornamental carving; sculpture. Also concr.
| c 1300 K. Alis. 4671 A schryne, Of entaile riche and fyne. c 1400 Rowland & O. 412 Ane helme of riche entayle, Of precyouse stanes the appayrayle. c 1400 Destr. Troy 1650 Caruen in Cristall by crafte of Entaile. 1430 Lydg. Chron. Troy i. vi, A ryche ymage of sylver..of meruaylous entayle. c 1530 Ld. Berners Arth. Lyt. Bryt. (1814) 139 Foure condytes meruaylously wrought by subtyll entayle. |
| concr. c 1430 Lydg. Bochas ii. xv. (1554) 54 b, Nothing seyn of all the whole entaile. |
2. transf. ‘Cut’, fashion of a garment; shape, pattern, outline; figure, stature. Also, guise, semblance.
| c 1320 Seuyn Sag. (W.) 2671 Honge we him in his entaile. c 1325 Poems temp. Edw. II (Percy) lvi, A new entaile have thei i-fend..The raye is turned overthwart. c 1400 Rom. Rose 1081 Aboute hir nekke of gentyl entayle Was shete the riche chevesaile. c 1430 Lydg. Bochas ii. xxvii. (1554) 63 a, Among which hilles..Been craggy roches most hidous of entaile. c 1570 Thynne Pride & Lowl., Another was there, much of his entaile. |
3. The phrase of good (rich) entail (sense 1, 2) was app. taken as = ‘of good quality’. Hence (persons) of entaile: of ‘quality’ or rank.
| c 1330 R. Brunne Chron. Wace. c 1380 Sir Ferumb. 730 A smot him on þe helm an heȝ þat was of god entaille. c 1430 Syr Gener. (Roxb.) 3608 With ix hundreth knightes of good entaile. c 1430 Lydg. Min. Poems (1840) 188 Cytryne of colour, lyke garnettes of entayle. a 1450 Le Morte Arth. 3273 And yiffe we may wyth spechys spede Wyth trew trowthes of entayle. |
II. The keeping accounts by tallies.
| c 1488 Liber Niger in Househ. Ord. 70 He [Chief Pantrer] receivythe the brede of the Sergeaunt of the bake-house by entayle. Ibid. 77 Ale or beer..pourveyede by entayle. |
▪ II. entail, n.2 Law.
(ɛnˈteɪl)
Forms: see entail v.2
[f. entail v.2]
The action of entailing; the state of being entailed.
1. The settlement of the succession of a landed estate, so that it cannot be bequeathed at pleasure by any one possessor; the rule of descent settled for any estate; the fixed or prescribed line of devolution. Also in phrases: to break, cut (off) the entail, statute of entails, entail male.
| c 1380 [see transferred use 2 a.]. 1467 Bury Wills (1850) 47, I wylle that myn executo{supr}s and myn feffeis see the best mene that they can in restoryng ageyn to the olde intaile of the seid place. Ibid. 50 Not conteynyd in myne dede of entayle. 1580 D. Powel Lloyd's Cambria 138 To his heires male by an especial Entaile aforesaid. 1601 Shakes. All's Well iv. iii. 313 For a Cardceue he will..cut th' intaile from all remainders. 1660 Burney κέρδ. Δῶρον (1661) 54 In passing of Fines and cutting of the Entails. 1712 Arbuthnot John Bull (1755) 49 His sister Peg's name being in the entail, he could not make a thorough settlement without her consent. 1742 Richardson Pamela III. 405 My father too..might have cut off the Intail. 1759 Robertson Hist. Scot. (1802) I. i. 223 By introducing entails..to render their possessions unalienable and everlasting. 1796 Jane Austen Pride & Prej. (1833) 268 This son was to join in cutting off the entail. 1839 Keightley Hist. Eng. I. 252 The statute of entails..is also to be referred to this reign. 1876 Bancroft Hist. U.S. III. iii. 341 Entails were not perpetual; land was always in the market. |
2. transf. and fig. in various senses: a. The securing (an office, dignity, privilege) to a predetermined line of successors; a predetermined order of succession. b. The transmission, as an inalienable inheritance, of qualities, conditions, obligations, etc. c. Necessary sequence. d. concr. That which is entailed; a secured inheritance.
| a. c 1380 Wyclif Wks. (1880) 391 Men supposen þis entaile [of tithes] was not expresly confermyd bi criste. 1555 Bradford in Strype Eccl. Mem. III. App. xlv. 131 Thoughe the Quene..disheryt the right heyres apparent, or breake her fathers intayle. 1622 Bacon Hen. VII Wks. (Bohn) 315 So as the entail might seem rather a personal favour to him and his children, than a total disinherison to the house of York. a 1699 Stillingfl. Serm. II. i. (R.), How comes the entail to be made to all his [St. Peter's] successors? 1827 Hallam Const. Hist. (1876) III. xv. 182 Harley..zealously supported the entail of the crown on the princess Sophia. |
| b. 1706 De Foe Jure Div. viii. 188 They're Traytors else to the Entails of Sense. 1780 Burke Econ. Ref. Wks. 1842 I. 246 An intail of dependence is a bad reward of merit. 1866 J. Martineau Ess. I. 218 The natural entail of disease and character. 1879 Geo. Eliot Theo. Such ii. 36 That entail of social ignorance. |
| c. 1662 Stillingfl. Orig. Sacr. ii. vi. §10 If God by his immediate hand of providence did not cut off the entail of effects upon their natural causes. a 1847 R. Hamilton Rew. & Punishm. ii. (1853) 82 The entail of vice upon the circumstances of the present life. |
| d. 1822 Byron Werner ii. ii. 305 Ignorance And dull suspicion are a part of his Entail will last him longer than his lands. |
† 3. pl. (See quot.; app. humorous use of phrase belonging to 1.)
| 1790 W. Marshall Midl. Counties (E.D.S.) s.v., When the reapers come near to the finish, they cut off each other's entails, or ends of the lands: the whole finish together. |
▪ III. † enˈtail, v.1 Obs.
Forms: 4–5 entaille, entaylle, Sc. entailze, (6 entally), 4–7 entaile. Also 6 intaile, -yle.
[a. OF. entaille-r, corresp. to Pr. entalhar, entaillar, Sp. entallar, It. intagliare:—late L. intaleāre, f. in into + taleāre (Fr. tailler) to cut.]
1. trans. To carve, sculpture; to make carvings upon, ornament with carvings; to portray or represent by carving.
| c 1394 P. Pl. Crede 167 A curious cros craftly entayled. c 1400 Rom. Rose 140 Wel entailled With many riche portraitures. 1481 Caxton Myrr. iii. xi. 158 In thyse grete colompnes or pylers..were entaylled & grauen the vii scyences. 1483 ― Gold. Leg. 355/3 They wold not entaylle ne kerue hit [an ydolle]. 1555 Fardle Facions ii. i. 117 Plate..curiously wrought and entallied. 1590 Spenser F.Q. ii. iii. 27 Golden bendes, which were entayld With curious antickes. 1637 J. Anchoran Porta Linguarum 183 A Carver or an image maker, graves, carves, and entailes a statue. |
| absol. a 1500 Chaucer's Dreme 11 Couth well entayle in imagery. |
b. transf. with reference to embroidery.
| c 1340 Gaw. & Gr. Knt. 612 Tortors and trulofez entayled so þyk. |
c. In pass. (cf. mould, carve, etc.) of a living body.
| 1501 Douglas Pal. Hon. i. xxxix, His bodie weill entailȝeit euerie steid. |
2. To engrave in intaglio. rare as distinct sense.
| 1538 Leland Itin. VII. 57 [Cornelines] and other Stonys wel entaylid for Seales. 1577–87 Harrison England in Holinshed xxiii. 128 Costlie stones alreadie intailed for seales. |
3. To cut into, make an incision in.
| 1601 Holland Pliny (1634) II. 259 Leafed after the maner of passe-floures..but that they be intailed or indented deeper. |
b. absol.
| 1590 Spenser F.Q. ii. vi. 29 The mortall steele despiteously entayld Deepe in their flesh. |
4. To cut notches in a ‘tally’; to keep an account by tally.
| c 1488 Liber Niger in Househ. Ord. 78 The yomen of the pycher house..intayle with both buttlers of wyne & ale. |
▪ IV. entail, v.2
(ɛnˈteɪl)
Forms: α. 4–6 entaile, 5 entayle, 7– entail. β. 5–6 intaile, -yle, 7–8 intail.
[f. en-1 + AF. tailé tail a. or taile n., entail. In legal Anglo-Lat. (16th c.) intalliāre. See further under tail a.]
1. Law. trans. To convert (an estate) into a ‘fee tail’ (feudum talliatum); to settle (land, an estate, etc.) on a number of persons in succession, so that it cannot be bequeathed at pleasure by any one possessor. Const. on, to, upon.
| 1380 Wyclif Wks. (1880) 390 Lande entaylid by mannys lawe. 1466 Mann. & Househ. Exp. (1841) 341 The said Herry schalle bye and entayle v. markes worthe of londe to hym and his eyres. 1495 Act 11 Hen. VII, c. 60 Pream., Londes and tenementis whiche were intailed to him and to his Auncestres. 1590 Greene Never too late (1600) 55 What Lands to sel, how they were either tied by Statute, or Intaild? 1642 Fuller Holy & Prof. St. i. xiv. 45 The old man being onely Tenant for life, and the lands entaild on one young Gentleman. 1670 Milton Hist. Eng. vi. Wks. (1851) 241 An old craft of the Clergy to secure thir Church Lands, by entailing them on some Saint. 1765 Act 5 Geo. III, c. 26 Pream., [They] should convey, settle, and intail the lands so to be purchased. 1824 Miss Mitford Village Ser. i. (1863) 87 The house and park..were entailed on a distant cousin. 1856 Emerson Eng. Traits, Aristocr. Wks. (Bohn) II. 86 They cannot sell them [houses], because they are entailed. |
2. transf. and fig. To bestow or confer as if by entail; to cause to descend to a designated series of possessors; to bestow as an inalienable possession.
| 1509 Hawes Examp. Virt. xii. 240 The other gardyn is celestyall..And is entayled to vs in generall. 1513 More Edw. V, 3 The Crowne of the Realme [was] entayled to the Duke of Yorke and his Heires. 1589 Pappe w. Hatchet B, Neuer entaile thy wit to the eldest. 1593 Shakes. 3 Hen. VI, i. i. 194, I here entayle The Crowne to thee and to thine Heires for euer. 1630 Prynne God no Impostor 2 The benefits of the Gospell are intayled vpon them alone. 1649 Selden Laws Eng. i. xii. (1739) 22 Nor then had the Pope the whole power herein intailed to his Triple Crown. 1682 Burnet Rights Princes ii. 57 Bishops might have entailed their Sees to their Kinred or Friends. 1703 Pope Thebais 111 Thou Fury, then, some lasting curse entail. 1752 Fielding Amelia ii. iii, Can I bear to think of entailing beggary on the posterity of my Amelia? 1800 Colquhoun Comm. Thames Pref. 7 Intails distress and obloquy on an innocent offspring. 1870 Lowell Study Wind. 214 Luther..entailed upon us the responsibility of private judgement. |
† b. In occasional uses: To make (a person) ‘heir’ to a possession, condition, etc.; to cause a person to become permanently (something). Obs.
| 1627–77 Feltham Resolves i. xxxvi. 61 Either of these intail a mans mind to misery. a 1659 Osborn Characters, &c. (1673) 639 For he did undo By writing them, what Wit entayl'd thee to. 1683 Penn. Archives I. 79 Amount to soe vast a sume as will entail me yo{supr} Perpetuall Debtor. |
† 3. To attach as an inseparable appendage to, upon, an estate or inheritance; hence gen. to ‘tack on’, attach. Obs.
| 1593 Nashe 4 Lett. Confut. 63 It hath pleased M. Printer..to intaile a vaine title to my name. 1607 Heywood Woman Kilde Wks. 1874 II. 94 All his mad trickes were to his land intailed, And you are heyre to all. c 1645 Howell Lett. (1650) II. 17 Upon the latter of which the Musulman empire is entayld. 1669 Bunyan Holy Citie 89 His Name was always so entailed to that Doctrine. 1713 Derham Phys. Theol. iv. 188 The allotment of Food is..entailed to the very Constitution and Nature of Animals. |
4. To impose (inconvenience, expense, labour) upon a person. Chiefly said of cirumstances or actions; hence occas. of personal agents.
| 1665 Boyle Occas. Refl. iv. xix. (1675) 281 Yet Custom has so Entail'd some ways of Expence upon some Stations in the World. 1771 Junius Lett. xlii. 223 What an enormous expense is entailed..upon this unhappy country. 1826 Scott Provinc. Antiq. Which shall, so long as the building stands, entail disgrace on all who have had to do with it. 1846 Prescott Ferd. & Is. I. i. 95 The long wars..which a disputed succession entailed on the country. 1851 Gladstone Glean. IV. lxi. 42, I..shall not entail upon your Lordship the charge of handing to and fro replications and rejoinders. 1860 Tyndall Glac. i. §16. 104 The great amount of labour which this [assistance] might entail upon him. |
5. Simply. To bring on by way of necessary consequence. Of premises: To involve logically, necessitate (a particular conclusion).
| 1829 Southey Sir T. More I. 267 A conquest which brought with it no evil and entailed no regret. 1839 E. D. Clarke Trav. 134/1 The scheme..was found to entail greater evils than those he was labouring to put down. 1854 Thackeray Newcomes I. 32 The weight of business which this present affliction entails. 1856 Dove Logic Chr. Faith Introd. 4 That failure would not entail the conclusion that, etc. |