regardant, a. and n.
(rɪˈgɑːdənt)
Also 6 (9) -aunt, -and.
[a. F. regardant, pres. pple. of regarder to regard.]
A. adj.
1. Law (now only Hist.) Attached to a manor; only in villein regardant († also const. to).
| [1316 Year Bk. 9 Edw. II, Trin. 294 Le manoir de H...a quel manoir cest vileyn est regardant. 1356 Ibid. 29 Edw. III, Trin. (1561) 41 b, Villeyns regardants al maneres sont de droyt al seignour de prendre lez a sa volunte.] |
| 1443–50 in Baildon Sel. Cas. Chanc. (1896) 135 He and his auncestres..haue been seised of the said John Bysship and of his auncestres as villeyns regardantz to the said Maner fro the tyme that no mynde is. 1531 Dial. on Laws Eng. i. xx. 33 b, But he hathe nother ryghte to the aduowsons appendaunt if any be, nor to the vylleyns regardant. a 1577 Sir T. Smith Commw. Eng. ii. viii. (1584) 108 These were not bond to the person but to the mannor or place,..and in our lawe are called villaines regardantes. 1628 Coke On Litt. ii. ii. §189. 123 b, And there is no diuersitie herein whether he be a villeine regardant, or in grosse although some haue said the contrarie. 1766 Blackstone Comm. II. vi. 93 These villeins, belonging principally to lords of manors, were either villeins regardant, that is, annexed to the manor or land; or else they were in gross. 1818 Hallam Mid. Ages viii. (1868) 569 The statute de donis must have operated very injuriously to prevent the enfranchisement of villeins regardant. 1892 Vinogradoff Villainage in Eng. i. i. 48 Most modern writers on the subject have laid stress upon a difference between villains regardant and villains in gross, said to be found in law books. |
† b. transf. Bound or subject
to something.
Obs.| 1651 N. Bacon Disc. Govt. Eng. ii. xxxvii. 167 Whereas formerly Bishops were regardant both to the Crown and Presbytery,..now they are made the birth of the King's own breath. |
2. Her. Looking backward.
| c 1500 Sc. Poem Heraldry 130 in Q. Eliz. Acad., etc. 98 First, a lionne [statant]; on-vthir, lyone rampand;..the viij dormand; the ix regardand is. 1562 Leigh Armorie 83 He beareth Azure .ij. Lyons passaunt regardant, Or. Ibid. 83 b, Some haue thought, that these Lyons be regardaunt, whereof by proofe, you see the contrarye. 1594 Kyd Cornelia v. 207 Passant regardant softly they [two lions] retyre. 1610 J. Guillim Heraldry iii. xxvi. 184 Hee beareth or, a Lion Rampand, Regardant Sable,..This action doth manifest an inward and degenerate perturbation of the mind. 1864 Boutell Her. Hist. & Pop. x. (ed. 3) 58 The Lion Passant Reguardant..looks back to the Sinister. Ibid. xxxii. 474 Two griffins reguardant sa., crowned or. |
| transf. a 1502 in Arnolde Chron. (1811) 239 Frumenty and venyson, syngnet rosted, graunt luce in sarris, roo roested regardaunt, feusaunt roosted [etc.]. |
3. Observant, watchful, contemplative.
| 1588 Kyd Househ. Phil. Wks. (1901) 242, I might shew myselfe mindful and regardant. 1630 B. Jonson New Inn iv. iv, You might have known that by my looks, and language, Had you been or regardant, or observant. 1814 Southey Roderick xi, The heroic Prince (who passing now..the dangerous track, Turns thither his regardant eye). 1834 ― Doctor (1848) 1/1 The look which accompanied the words was rather cogitative than regardant. |
† b. Full of regard or consideration.
Obs.| 1647 N. Bacon Disc. Govt. Eng. i. lvii. (1739) 105 Towards his Lay-Subjects he was more regardant for the settling of Laws, and executing of Justice. |
4. ? Looking towards each other.
rare—1.
| 1856 J. C. Robinson Catal. Soulages Collection 133 An unfinished relievo of two regardant portraits of a lady and gentleman exists at the back of the slab. |
B. n. † 1. A beholder, spectator.
Obs. (So also F.
regardant.)
| 1596 Z. J. tr. Lavardin's Hist. Scanderbeg 8 An incredible kind of care intermingled with griefe did assaile the hearts of the regardants. 1602 Munday Palmerin of Eng. xii, To the no small pleasure of the Emperor and his nobility as also the regardants. |
2. A villein regardant, a serf. ?
Obs.| 1795 Burke Regic. Peace iv. Wks. IX. 72 The Helots of Laconia, the Regardants to the Manor in Russia and in Poland, even the Negroes in the West Indies, know nothing of..so penetrating, so heart-breaking a slavery. |