Feudalism was a system in which people were given land and protection by people of higher rank, and worked and fought for them in return.
feudalism in British English
(ˈfjuːdəˌlɪzəm)
noun
1. Also called: feudal system
the legal and social system that evolved in W Europe in the 8th and 9th centuries, in which vassals were protected and maintained by their lords, usually through the granting of fiefs, and were required to serve under them in war
See also vassalage, fief
2.
any social system or society, such as medieval Japan or Ptolemaic Egypt, that resembles medieval European feudalism
Derived forms
feudalist (ˈfeudalist)
noun
feudalistic (ˌfeudalˈistic)
adjective
feudalism in American English
(ˈfjudəlˌɪzəm)
noun
1.
the economic, political, and social system in medieval Europe, in which land, worked by serfs who were bound to it, was held by vassals in exchange for military and other services given to overlords
2.
a society organized like that in medieval Europe
Derived forms
feudalist (ˈfeudalist)
noun
feudalistic (ˌfeudalˈistic)
adjective
Examples of 'feudalism' in a sentence
feudalism
Industrial feudalism, communism, capitalism, things we never even thought of.
Niven, Larry & Pournelle, Jerry THE MOAT AROUND MURCHESON'S EYE (1993)
In other languages
feudalism
British English: feudalism NOUN
Feudalism was a system in which people were given land and protection by people of higher rank, and worked and fought for them in return.
As feudalism decayed in the West, it gave rise to a mercantile class.