What does feoffor mean?
A feoffor is a legal term for someone who grants an estate in fee to another person, usually through a formal deed. The property granted may be described as a fee simple, meaning an estate of unrestricted ownership that can be inherited and transferred. A feoffor is therefore the grantor: the person who conveys the property rather than the person who receives it. The word is uncommon in everyday speech but remains useful when reading deeds, historical records, or scholarship on feudal and property law. It can also identify the person performing a grant on another person's behalf, such as a feoffor in trust. Although the related word grantor is more general and more natural today, feoffor preserves the precise legal terminology of older English conveyancing.
nounA person who grants an estate in fee, especially an estate in fee simple, to another, typically by deed. In historical and legal contexts, a feoffor is the grantor of property.
- A person who grants or conveys an estate in fee, especially by deed; a grantor of land.
"The feoffor of the manor confirmed the estate to his successor by deed."
"The feoffor of the manor confirmed the estate to his successor by deed."
"The feoffor transferred the fee simple to the grantee under a formal deed."
The regular plural is feoffors.
"The survey lists the feoffors of the three manors."
A feoffor granted the estate; a feoffee received it. The old legal vocabulary keeps the giver and receiver in separate roles.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Where does feoffor come from?
The word entered English from Anglo-French as feoffour, an agent noun based on Old French feoffer, meaning to grant or enfeoff. Old French feoffer reflects a Germanic verb meaning to give, connecting the word with cognates such as give and gift. The same source also produced the related legal forms feoff, feoffee, and feoffment.
Related word forms
How feoffor is actually used
This is a rare, formal word found chiefly in historical documents, legal texts, and discussion of feudal property law. In ordinary modern prose, grantor is usually more natural.
Easily confused with feoffor
A feoffor grants or conveys the property, whereas a feoffee is the person who receives it.