Besaiel

//bɪˈseɪ.əl// noun

noun ·Rare ·Advanced level

Definitions

Noun
  1. 1
    A great-grandfather. obsolete

    "Herry Percy, knyght, Besaile to the said then Erle […]"

  2. 2
    A kind of writ which formerly lay where a great-grandfather died seized of lands in fee simple, and on the day of his death a stranger abated or entered and kept the heir out. obsolete

    "In a Writ of Besayle he shall not have the View."

Example

More examples

"Herry Percy, knyght, Besaile to the said then Erle […]"

Etymology

From Middle French besaieul, besayel, from Old French beseel, from Latin bis (“twice”) + aviolus, diminutive of avus (“grandfather”).

Related phrases

Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.