arrière feen.
/ˌarɪɛː ˈfiː/, U.S. /ˌɑriɛr ˈfi/ Feudal Law. Now rare and historical.
A fief which is held from an intermediary rather than the original feoffor; = arrière-fief n.In later use chiefly in dictionaries and works of reference.
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society > law > legal right > right of possession or ownership > tenure of property > a legal holding > [noun] > a feudal holding or fief > subfief
under-fee1594
arrière fee1615
subfeu1681
arrière-fief1716
subinfeudation1725
sub-fief1729
rere-fief1761
1615 E. Grimeston tr. P. d'Avity Estates 77 Of the contribution of the Ban and Arriere-ban, fee and arriere-fee [Fr. arriere-fief], eleuen millions of liuers.
1728 E. Chambers Cycl. (at cited word) Arriere Fee,..is a Fee dependent on some other superior one.
1844 H. E. Lloyd tr. F. E. Dahlmann Hist. Eng. Revol. 4 The arrière fees [Ger. Afterlehnen]..were granted for cavalry service.
1916 J. A. Ballentine Law Dict. Words, Terms, Abbrev. & Phrases 26/1 Arrière fee, a fee dependent upon a superior fee.
a1981 A. A. Leff in Yale Law Jrnl. (1985) 94 2061 Arriere fee.., in feudal tenure, a fee held of one holding a fee from a still higher lord.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, June 2017; most recently modified version published online December 2021).
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n.1615