enfeoff

Meaning

Verb

• To transfer a fief to, to endow with a fief; to put (a person) in legal possession of a freehold interest.
• To give up completely; to surrender, to yield.

Origin

• From Late Middle English enfeffen, from Old French enfeffer, enfieffer (compare Anglo-Latin infeoffāre, Anglo-Norman enfeoffer), from en- + fief (ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *peku-, *peḱu-). The English word is analysable as en- + feoff.