Feudal system
Contemporary English still uses a number of words which originally referred to different elements in or aspects of the feudal system, i.e., the social and legal system which was a feature of life in Britain and much of Europe from the 8th to the 14th centuries CE. This group of words, which are now sometimes used with broader meanings (see below), includes; as well as the word 'feudal' itself, vassal (and vassalage), fief (feoff and fiefdom), fealty, and homage.
The central and defining feature of a feudal society was the relationship between lord and vassal. A lord protected and supported his vassals by granting them the use of land or paying them a fee (a fief or feoff), while a vassal had an obligation to defend his lord by military service, should the need arise (fealty). The relationship between lord and vassal was pervasive in medieval society: at its summit leading members of the nobility were vassals of the king, while beneath them lesser nobles were vassals of the greater, and so on to more humble levels of society. One might be in vassalage to a single lord, in which case one's undivided loyalty to him was acknowledged in an act of homage, whereas the vassal of several lords acknowledged his (necessarily conditional) loyalty to each of them in an act of fealty (a less onerous form of obligation than homage).
The words feudal, vassal, fief, fealty, and homage are still sometimes used in contemporary English, more loosely, to refer to elements in, or aspects of, contemporary social life which resemble their medieval antecedents.
Feudal (from the Latin feudalis, an adjective from feodum, 'land held in return for service') is sometimes used, always disparagingly, to mean 'old-fashioned', 'outmoded', or 'antiquated', as in 'His attitude to his employees is positively feudal – he treats them as if they were his servants.'
Vassal (from the Medieval Latin vassalis, an adjective from the noun vassus, 'servant') is used nowadays to describe a person, nation, or state which is in a subordinate or dependent position to another person, nation, or state.
Fief (or feoff ) (from Old French fie, of Germanic origin) is occasionally used loosely in contemporary English to refer – often ironically - to any designated area or range of issues over which someone has authority, as in 'I can't interfere in this matter: it is clearly within the manager's fief'.
Fealty (from the Old French fealte, from the Latin noun fidelitas, 'faithfulness', 'loyalty') is occasionally used nowadays, often ironically, to mean simply 'loyalty' or 'allegiance', as in 'I'm sorry to hear they have declared their fealty to the opposite side in the debate: we shall struggle to win without their support.
Homage (from Old French, from home, 'man', from Latin homo, 'man') is now used to refer to any public show or display of respect for or honour to a person, as in 'In his speech of welcome the Prime Minister paid homage to the President's exemplary leadership throughout the crisis'.
