tanistry
English
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edittanistry (usually uncountable, plural tanistries)
- (historical) A form of tenure, in ancient Scotland and Ireland, whereby succession was passed to an elected member of the same extended family.
- 2011, Norman Davies, Vanished Kingdoms, Penguin, published 2012, page 50:
- They also have to make allowance, in place of primogeniture, for the practice of tanistry, that is, the naming of a successor who was not necessarily the ruler's son.