utfangethef

Noun

outfangthief

1. (historical, rare, properly) A privilege of some feudal lords permitting them to execute summary judgment upon thieves (particularly their own tenants) captured outside their estates and to keep any chattels forfeited upon conviction.
   • A grant of outfangthief imports the trial of those of his fee taken for felony in another precinct.1822, John Comyns, Anthony Hammond, A Digest of the Laws of England, Butterworth & Son, page 328
2. (historical, rare, generally) A privilege of some feudal lords permitting them to execute summary judgment upon all thieves captured within their estates, regardless of their origin.
   • But feudalism also contained another principle, and that was, that within his own territory each lord was absolute; his suzerain could not interfere with his jurisdiction; infangthief and outfangthief implied a very perfect and intelligible power of hanging and imprisoning as he pleased.1845, John Henry Newman, Lives of the English Saints, ST Freemantle, p. 19
3. (countable, historical, rare) A thief so captured and tried.