vassal means resembling a vassal; slavish; servile. It carries an Arena rating of 1441, earned across 3 head-to-head judged battles.
Among words judged in Lexicurio's Arena, vassal ranks #644 of 17,104 for Most Storied Words, #3,422 of 17,143 for Best Fossil-Poetry Words, #3,572 of 17,134 for Most Malleable Words, #5,245 of 17,138 for Most Incisive Words.
vassal is pronounced /ˈvæsəl/.
Why “vassal” is a great word
A subordinate, especially in a feudal system, who holds land from a superior lord and owes homage, fealty, and typically military service in return. From Middle English vassal, from Old French vassal, from Medieval Latin vassallus ("manservant, retainer"), from Latin vassus ("servant"), from Gaulish *wassos ("young man, squire"), from Proto-Celtic *wastos ("servant"). Unlike a "serf," bound immovably to the soil, or a "subject," whose allegiance is a diffuse duty to the crown, a vassal was enmeshed in a personal, reciprocal contract of honor and force. It is the mailed hand pressed between two in oath, the castle built on land one does not own, the cold dread of swearing to die for a man whose flaws you know—the intimacy of loyalty that binds not by blood or law, but by a word given, and kept.
Etymology
From Middle English vassal, from Old French vassal, from Medieval Latin vassallus (“manservant, domestic, retainer”), from Latin vassus (“servant”), from Gaulish *wassos (“young man, squire”), from Proto-Celtic *wastos (“servant”) (compare Old Irish foss and Welsh gwas).
adj
- Resembling a vassal; slavish; servile.
noun
- The grantee of a fief, a subordinate granted use of a superior's land and its income in exchange for vows of fidelity and homage and (typically) military service.
- Any direct subordinate bound by such vows to a superior.e.g.“The king ordered his vassals to join him on the crusade unless they had a written note signed by the archbishop or pope.”
- Any subordinate bound by similar close ties.e.g.“The vassals of his anger.” — 1667, John Milton, “Book II”, in Paradise Lost. […], London: […] [Samuel Simmons], and are to be sold by Peter Parker […]; [a]nd by Robert Boulter […]; [a]nd Matthias Walker, […], →OCLC; republished a
verb
- To treat as a vassal or to reduce to the position of a vassal; to subject to control; to enslave.
- To subordinate to someone or something.
Definitions & examples from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 3.0).
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