socage
UK/ˈsɒkɪd͡ʒ/US/ˈsɑkɪd͡ʒ/
socage noun: in the Middle Ages (and chiefly but not exclusively medieval England), a legal system whereby a tenant would pay a rent or do some agricultural work for the landlord.
Noun
socage (countable and uncountable, plural socages)
- In the Middle Ages (and chiefly but not exclusively medieval England), a legal system whereby a tenant would pay a rent or do some agricultural work for the landlord.
- […] this quiz with all the strange old terms in it, curtilage and messuage and socage and fee simple and fee tail and feoffee and copyhold and customary freehold and mortmain and devises and lex loci rei sitae.1990, John Updike, Rabbit at Rest
- The rest was held by tenants, sometimes called "sokemen" from the "soke" or jurisdiction; and said to hold in "soccage" because they gave plough-service by way of rent.1908, Mary A. M. Marks, “In Saxon Times”, in Landholding in England
Forms of socage
| plural | socages |
|---|---|
| alternative form | soccage |
Origin of socage
From Middle English sokage, from Anglo-Norman socage, from Old French soc (“soke”), ultimately from Old English sōcn. By surface analysis, soke + -age.
Words formed from socage
Words that rhyme with socage
Questions about socage
- What does socage mean?
- Socage means in the Middle Ages (and chiefly but not exclusively medieval England), a legal system whereby a tenant would pay a rent or do some agricultural work for the landlord.
- What part of speech is socage?
- Socage is a noun.
- How do you pronounce socage?
- Socage is pronounced /ˈsɒkɪd͡ʒ/ (UK).
- What is the plural of socage?
- The plural of socage is socages.
Words near socage in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: socage (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
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Cite this entry: “socage.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/socage. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.