enfeoff, v.
(ɛnˈfɛf)
Forms: α. 5 enfeffe, enfefe, 6 enfeoffe, 5– enfeoff. Also 5 enfeffee. β. 5–7 infeof(f, 6 infeffe, 7 infeft. Also 6 infeoffee. See also enfief.
[a. OF. enfeffer, enfieffer (AF. enfeoffer), f. en- (see en-1) + fief fief. In Anglo-Lat. infeoffāre.]
1. trans. To invest with a fief; to put (a person) in possession of the fee-simple or fee-tail of lands, tenements, etc. Also absol. Const. in, of, † on, later with; also simply.
| α 1400–50 Alexander 2793 [Alexander] enfeffid þaim belyue, In palais, in prouince, in principall regnes. 1411 Sir T. Langeford in E.E. Wills (1882) 18 Y pray alle ȝow þat bene enfeffeed in my londes..þat ȝe fulfylle my forseyd wylle. 1426 E.E. Wills (1882) 71 Þay wolde enfeffe Philippe Dene on vj marces of rente. 1467 Mann. & Househ. Exp. 172 Karowe and I withe oder waren enfefed in a howese and land. 1531 Dial. Laws Eng. ii. xvi. (1638) 86 The grantor enfeoffeth the grantee of one of the said acres. 1590 Greene Fr. Bacon x. 14, I will enfeoff fair Margaret in all. 1611 Speed Hist. Gt. Brit. ix. ix. (1632) 614 The Scottish King claimed that Country from King John, who by his deed enfeoffed him thereof. 1655 Fuller Ch. Hist. iii. vi. §13 We..shall take such tenements into our hand, and shall enfeoffe others therein. 1785 Burke Sp. Nabob Arcot's Debts Wks. IV. 308 A criminal..is..enfeoffed with an estate. 1818 Cruise Digest I. 43 If the lord enfeoffs another of the tenancy, this makes the land frank fee. a 1845 Barham Ingol. Leg. (1877) 337 The veteran was enfeoffed in the lands and Manor. 1876 Bancroft Hist. U.S. I. xiii. 433 Charles II..enfeoffed his brother, the Duke of York, with the counties between Pemaquid and the St. Croix. |
| β 1491 Act 7 Hen. VII, c. 12. §5 Tenementes whereof they by this Acte be infeoffed. 1590 H. Swinburne Treat. Test. 93 If a man seased of lande in fee doe infeoffee a straunger. 1592 Nashe P. Penilesse (ed. 2) 33 b, The sonne seeks the death of the father, that he may be infeoffed in his wealth. 1628 Coke On Litt. 42 b, Whosoeuer is disabled by the Common Law to take, is disabled to infeoffe. 1640 Canterburians Self-Conviction 99 They set up a rubricke, feafing and infefling the officiating Priest in the halfe of all the oblations. 1662 Fuller Worthies Westmorl. iii. 141 Richard Gilpin..was infeoffed..in the Lordship of Kentmire-hall by the Baron of Kendal. 1752 Carte Hist. Eng. III. 566 He should infeofe her in a jointure of 40,000 crowns a year out of the dutchy of Berry. |
b. transf. and
fig.| α 1407 Will. Thorpe's Exam. in Arb. Garner VI. 57 This office that ye would now enfeoff me with. 1460 Pol. Rel. & L. Poems (1866) 64 For strengthe, ner force, may nat atteyne certayne a wille þat stant enfeffyd in Fraunchise. 1593 Nashe Christ's T. (1613) 179 The Fathers of our earthly bodies..cannot..enfeofe vs in glory perpetuall. 1638 Penit. Conf. viii. (1657) 247 The commodity is yours, for whose good we are enfeoffed with this power. 1834 H. Miller Scenes & Leg. xvii. (1857) 251 The fish in which they had enfeoffed themselves at the expense of Nannie Fizzle. |
| β a 1626 Bp. Andrewes Serm. (1886) I. 43 To set before us this flesh; and..to infeoffe us in it. 1684 Charnock Attrib. God (1834) II. 431 Infeoffing them in a land flowing with milk and honey. |
2. To hand over as a fief; to surrender, give up entirely.
fig.| 1596 Shakes. 1 Hen. IV, iii. ii. 69 The skipping King..Enfeoff'd himselfe to Popularitie. 1610 Histrio-m. v. 251 Hee that is most infeoft to Tyrannie. 1833 H. Coleridge Poems I. 46 The choicest terms are now enfeoff'd to folly. 1880 Blackmore Mary Anerley I. ii. 12 The weak lot which is enfeoffed to popularity. |