feudal
Anything feudal relates to the medieval system of feudalism — where the nobility owned the land while everyone else worked it. It was no fun to be a lowly serf in the feudal system.
Though it has roots in Latin, the adjective feudal (and its relative feudalism) were created by historians to describe the social system after it actually took place. Feudal may both look and sound similar to feud as in a long standing fight, but it’s not actually related — unless the argument happened to take place in medieval Europe.
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of or relating to or characteristic of feudalismsynonyms: feudalistic
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Vocabulary lists containing feudal
After a shipwreck, Rainsford thinks he's safe when he washes ashore a mysterious island — but once he meets the eccentric General Zaroff, he realizes his problems have just begun. Read the full text here.
The Magna Carta, signed in 1215, is 800 years old on June 15, 2015. The Magna Carta settled the rebellion of some barons against the king. Although some of the language is still obscure, the document is widely credited as being the first statement of individual rights under kingly rule. Among other things, it put a limit on payments that could be made to a king and ensured swift justice, guaranteed by a board of peers, in this case 25 barons. Here are 35 words from the English translation of the original Latin of this document that is the forerunner of democratic expressions like the Declaration of Independence.
In 1831, French aristocrat Alexis de Tocqueville visited the United States. In this book, he records his impressions of the customs and culture of the young nation. Read Volume One of the text translated by Henry Reeve, here. Here are links to our lists for the book: Introduction–Chapter 5, Chapters 6–9, Chapters 10–15, Chapters 16–17, Chapter 18