outfangthief

Meaning

Noun

• A privilege of some feudal lords permitting them to execute summary judgment upon thieves (particularly their own tenants) captured outside their estates and to keep any chattels forfeited upon conviction.
• A privilege of some feudal lords permitting them to execute summary judgment upon all thieves captured within their estates, regardless of their origin.
• A thief so captured and tried.

Origin

• From out- + fang, formed—probably in Middle English—after the model of infangthief, with the only Old English attestation a spurious charter forged in the 1st half of the 12th century.