virgate
English edit
Etymology 1 edit
Borrowed from Latin virgāta, from Old English ġeardland, "yard" compared to "virga" as a measuring rod. Doublet of vergée.
Pronunciation edit
- (US) IPA(key): /vɜɹˈɡeɪt/, /ˈvɝɡət/
- (UK) IPA(key): /ˈvɜːɡət/
Audio (Southern England) (file) - Rhymes: (US) -eɪt
Noun edit
virgate (plural virgates)
- (historical) The yardland: an obsolete English land measure usually comprising 1⁄4 of a hide and notionally equal to 30 acres.
Usage notes edit
The hide was originally intended to represent the amount of land farmed by a single household but was primarily connected to obligations owed to the Saxon and Norman kings and thus varied greatly from place to place. Around the time of the Domesday Book under the Normans, the hide was usually but not always the land expected to produce £1 (1 Tower pound of sterling silver) in income over the year, meaning the yardland was expected to produce five shillings (3 Tower ounces of sterling silver). In fact, the yardland became associated with its own obligations and thus also varied, in some places being reckoned as 1⁄6 of a hide rather than 1⁄4. Virgate is a later retronym used to distinguish the unit from the yard of 3 feet.
Synonyms edit
Hypernyms edit
Hyponyms edit
- (1⁄2 virgate & for Scottish divisions): See oxgang
- (1⁄4 virgate): See nook
- (1⁄8 virgate): See fardel
- (various & for further subdivisions): See acre
Etymology 2 edit
Pronunciation edit
Adjective edit
virgate (not comparable)
- Rod-shaped: straight, long, and thin, (particularly botany) the habitus of plants with straight, erect branches.
- (mycology) Finely striped, often with dark fibers.
Related terms edit
Anagrams edit
Latin edit
Adjective edit
virgāte