heriot

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heriot^¹

/ˈhɛɹɪət/

Where it comes from

From Old English hereġeatwa (“military equipment, army gear”).

Per Etymonline: "An Anglo-Saxon service of weapons, loaned by the lord to his retainer and repayable to him upon the retainer's death; sense transferred by 13c. to a feudal due upon the death of a tenant, payable to his lord in beasts."

noun heriots

historical The return of military equipment.
historical A payment made to a lord on the death of a tenant.
Similar: herezeld
dated A tribute.

verb heriots · herioting · herioted

historical, rare, transitive To pay the heriot on (a piece of real estate) after the death of the previous tenant (such as one's parent, uncle, aunt, or grandparent). Page 174, line 25. Perhaps the Richard Longebothome here mentioned was the same man as the Richard who herioted the property in 1509. Apr. 23, I Hen. VIII (1509). Ric. Longebothome paid xxiijˢ iiijᵈ [23s 4d] fine for license of herioting one messuage called Longebothome, one cottage, and 40 acres of

Heriot^²

proper noun Heriots

countable, uncountable A surname.
countable, uncountable A scattered settlement in Scottish Borders council area, Scotland, historically part of Midlothian (OS grid ref NT3952 to NT4054).
countable, uncountable A settlement in West Otago, New Zealand.

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MLA

"heriot." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/heriot. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026.

APA

heriot. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/heriot

Chicago

"heriot." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/heriot.

BibTeX

@misc{heriot_2026,
  title = {heriot},
  howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://micwyn.com/word/heriot},
  urldate = {2026-11-06}
}