feudalism

[fyood-l-iz-uh m] /ˈfyud lˌɪz əm/
noun
1.
the feudal system, or its principles and practices.
Origin
1830-40; feudal1 + -ism
Related forms
feudalist, noun
feudalistic, adjective
antifeudalism, noun
antifeudalist, noun
antifeudalistic, adjective
prefeudalism, noun
Examples from the web for feudalism
  • Tens of millions of people remain stuck in a sink of feudalism, repression and hunger.
  • Also there is perhaps a sense that the world has moved on from feudalism.
  • Neither can intolerance, feudalism, terrorism and economic malaise.
  • The remnants mutate, lapse into feudalism, or revert to prehistoric brutality.
  • He then began a new system of government known as feudalism.
British Dictionary definitions for feudalism

feudalism

/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, noun
feudalistic, adjective
Word Origin and History for feudalism
n.

a coinage of historians, first attested 1839; see feudal. Feudal system attested from 1776.

feudalism in Culture
feudalism [(fyoohd-l-iz-uhm)]

A system of obligations that bound lords and their subjects in Europe during much of the Middle Ages. In theory, the king owned all or most of the land and gave it to his leading nobles in return for their loyalty and military service. The nobles in turn held land that peasants, including serfs, were allowed to farm in return for the peasants' labor and a portion of their produce. Under feudalism, people were born with a permanent position in society. (See fief and vassal.)

Note: Today, the word feudal is sometimes used as a general term for a set of social relationships that seems unprogressive or out of step with modern society.