Frankpledge
noun ·Rare ·Advanced level
Definitions
- 1 A form of collective suretyship and punishment under English law among the members of a tithing. historical
"King John granted to the prior and convent, in all their manors and lands, sac, soc, tol, and theam, infangenthef, and outfangenthef, with the ordeals or judgment by fire, water, and iron, and a common gallows in each manor; with a view of frankenpledge, and assize of bread and ale, of all their tenants..."
- 2 Any group so similarly answerable for the conduct of all its members and liable for collective punishment.
"The servants of the Crown were not, as now, bound in frankpledge for each other."
- 3 A decener: a member of a tithing bound in frankpledge. historical
"Entire vills sir Henry Spelman conjectures to have consisted of ten freemen, or frank-pledges."
- 4 The tithing itself. historical, uncommon
Synonyms
All synonymsExample
More examples"King John granted to the prior and convent, in all their manors and lands, sac, soc, tol, and theam, infangenthef, and outfangenthef, with the ordeals or judgment by fire, water, and iron, and a common gallows in each manor; with a view of frankenpledge, and assize of bread and ale, of all their tenants..."
Etymology
From Anglo-Latin franciplegium, a Latinization of Anglo-Norman frauncplege ("free pledge"), a mistranslation of Old English friðborh ("pledge of peace"), which had the corrupted form friborh, which led to the Modern English term friborg, as if it were *freoborh ("free pledge"). See also friborg, which refers to the predecessor of frankpledge.
Related phrases
More for "frankpledge"
Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.