geneat

noun

1. A retainer; vassal; one who holds lands of a superior either by service or payment of rent.

   historical

   The tenants, cotsetlas, geburs, and geneats, were the highest among the semiservile.

Where it comes from

Learned borrowing from Old English ġenēat (“companion, follower, follower in battle; dependant, vassal, tenant who works for a lord”). Cognate with German Genosse (“comrade, etc.”)

Adapted from the Wiktionary entry geneat (CC BY-SA 4.0).

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