Word.ws English Dictionary

How to use vassal in a sentence

18 example sentences · noun, adjective, verb

Vassal means the grantee of a fief, a subordinate granted use of a superior's land and its income in exchange for vows of fidelity and homage and (typically) military service. Example: “The king ordered his vassals to join him on the crusade unless they had a written note signed by the archbishop or pope.”

Examples of vassal by meaning

nounAny direct subordinate bound by such vows to a superior.

  • The king ordered his vassals to join him on the crusade unless they had a written note signed by the archbishop or pope.

More sentences with vassal

  • The vassals were subject to their lords, who in turn were subject to barons or kings.From the entry in turn
  • In ancient times, repeatedly failing to pay tribute by a vassal state was often used as a casus belli by the patron.From the entry casus belli
  • "And this is my vassal Mahk the Orcess," I gestured towards my imposing pet.2018, Quinn Dallas, The Shadow of the Rogue: The Rogue's Gambit, Northern Sky Press, page 69. From the entry orcess
  • Most of the king's vassals failed to support him in this crisis.1998, Chris Peers, Warlords of China: 700BC to AD1662, Arms and Armour Press, →ISBN, →OCLC, →OL, page 19. From the entry chou
  • “We are surfeit with sons of vassals of the king,” the merchant said.1959, D. V. S. Jackson, chapter I, in Walk with Peril, New York: G. P. Putnam's Sons, page 10. From the entry surfeit
  • Where a vassal kills the brother, son, or grandson of his lord, he should lose his fief on account of it.2001, “Law IX. For What Offenses Committed Against His Lord a Vassal Loses His Fief, and Also How the Lord Loses the Ownership of It if He…. From the entry fief
  • The Normanno-Russian Great Princes of Kijev, as well as the Volga Bulgarians, were the vassals of the Xazars.1995, Karl Heinrich Menges, The Turkic Languages and Peoples, page 30. From the entry Normanno-
  • Feudum antiquum ; an ancient feud or fief ; a fief descended to the vassal from his ancestors. 2 Bl.1987, Alexander M. Burrill, A Law Dictionary and Glossary, page 620. From the entry Bl. Com.
  • Modern suzerainty involves only a few rights of the suzerain State over the vassal State which can be called constitutional rights.1920–1921, L[assa Francis Lawrence] Oppenheim, edited by Ronald F. Roxburgh, International Law: A Treatise, 3rd edition, volume I (Peace)…. From the entry suzerain
  • The rights of the suzerain State over the vassal are principally international rights, of whatever they may consist.1920–1921, L[assa Francis Lawrence] Oppenheim, edited by Ronald F. Roxburgh, International Law: A Treatise, 3rd edition, volume I (Peace)…. From the entry suzerain
  • At a recent conference in Slovakia, President Emmanuel Macron of France called Belarus a “vassal state,” but said Europe bore some of the blame.2023 June 22, Valerie Hopkins, quoting Emmanuel Macron, “Belarus Is Fast Becoming a ‘Vassal State’ of Russia”, in The New York Times, →ISSN. From the entry vassal state
  • Because he offered tribute to the Choson court and had encamped at Hoeryŏng (Chinese: Hui-ning), the Koreans regarded him as their vassal.1998, Donald N. Clark, “Sino-Korean tributary relations under the Ming”, in Denis Twitchett, Frederick W. Mote, editors, The Cambridge…. From the entry in fact
  • "If you wish to offer any of my vassals fiefdoms or positions in your new kingdom, they have my leave to accept.1989, Robert Shea, The Saracen, The Holy War. From the entry fiefdom
  • Underneath a black cliff where the incoming tide smashed on the shingle, they stumbled upon the mail hood of Hrothgar's murdered vassal.1961, Norma Lorre Goodrich, “Beowulf”, in The Medieval Myths, New York: The New American Library, page 35. From the entry shingle
  • The occasion arose when Buzar, ruler of Almaliq on the River Ili (near modern Kuldja in Xinjiang), declared himself a vassal of Genghis’s and asked for military help.2015, Frank McLynn, Genghis Khan: The Man Who Conquered the World, Vintage Books, published 2016, →ISBN, →OCLC, page 252. From the entry Kuldja
  • Not only had a vassal to be infeft when a grant was made or confirmed: a successor had to be infeft when he took up his inheritance.[1980?], Ann Morton, Gordon Donaldson, British National Archives and the Local Historian: A Guide to Official Record Publications (Helps…. From the entry infeoff
  • He fought against a vassal of Kung Kung called Hsiang-yao, a serpent-bodied creature with nine heads, whose pastureland was nine mountains and whose vomit formed evil springs and marshes.[1968, Anthony Christie, “The Useful Arts”, in Chinese Mythology, The Hamlyn Publishing Group Limited, →OCLC, page 88, column 2. From the entry Xiangyao

Meaning of vassal

  1. noun The grantee of a fief, a subordinate granted use of a superior's land and its income in exchange for vows of fidelity and homage and (typically) military service.
  2. noun Any direct subordinate bound by such vows to a superior.
  3. noun Any subordinate bound by similar close ties.

Full definition of vassal

Questions about vassal in a sentence

How do you use vassal in a sentence?
Vassal is used as a noun, adjective and verb. For example: “The king ordered his vassals to join him on the crusade unless they had a written note signed by the archbishop or pope.”
What is a short sentence with vassal?
“Most of the king's vassals failed to support him in this crisis.”
What does vassal mean?
Vassal means the grantee of a fief, a subordinate granted use of a superior's land and its income in exchange for vows of fidelity and homage and (typically) military service.

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: vassal (page history and authors) and the entries each sentence comes from. Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws chose the sentences, left out offensive ones and quotations older than 1900, and marked the word in each. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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