What does "mainpernor" mean?

In England in the Middle Ages, a surety (kind of guarantor), under the old writ of mainprise, for a prisoner's appearance in court at a day.

What is a synonym for "mainpernor"?

Common synonyms include: bondsman, guarantee, guarantor, guaranty, insurer, sponsor.

noun

noun ·Rare ·Advanced level

Noun

1
In England in the Middle Ages, a surety (kind of guarantor), under the old writ of mainprise, for a prisoner's appearance in court at a day. historical

From Middle English meynpernour, from Anglo-Norman mainprenour, from mainprendre + -our. See modern French main, preneur.

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