fiefdom

fiefdom
a) The estate controlled by a feudal lord; a fief.

The dukes fiefdom had been greatly expanded as a reward for his dutiful military service on behalf of the king.

b) Any organization in the control of a dominant individual. Primarily used with a critical or pejorative connotation.

Most of our companys computers are standardized, but the IT director allows the employees in his own little fiefdom to specify their own machines.


Wikipedia foundation.

Игры ⚽ Поможем решить контрольную работу

Look at other dictionaries:

  • fiefdom — 1814, from FIEF (Cf. fief) + DOM (Cf. dom) …   Etymology dictionary

  • fiefdom — [fēf′dəm] n. 1. FIEF 2. anything under a person s complete control or authority …   English World dictionary

  • fiefdom — UK [ˈfiːfdəm] / US [ˈfɪfdəm] noun [countable] Word forms fiefdom : singular fiefdom plural fiefdoms mainly literary an area or organization that someone controls completely …   English dictionary

  • Fiefdom — Under the system of feudalism, a fiefdom, fief, feud, feoff, or fee, often consisted of inheritable lands or revenue producing property granted by a liege lord, generally to a vassal, in return for a form of allegiance, originally to give him the …   Wikipedia

  • fiefdom — /ˈfifdəm/ (say feefduhm) noun 1. a feudal lord s estate. 2. a powerful person s area of control: he regards the whole brewing industry as his fiefdom …  

  • fiefdom — fief ► NOUN 1) historical an estate of land held on condition of feudal service. 2) a person s sphere of operation or control. DERIVATIVES fiefdom noun. ORIGIN Old French, variant of feu «fee» …   English terms dictionary

  • fiefdom — noun see fief …   New Collegiate Dictionary

  • fiefdom — /feef deuhm/, n. 1. the estate or domain of a feudal lord. 2. Informal. anything, as an organization or real estate, owned or controlled by one dominant person or group. [1805 15; FIEF + DOM] * * * …   Universalium

  • fiefdom — Synonyms and related words: adverse possession, alodium, burgage, claim, colony, de facto, de jure, dependency, derivative title, fee fief, fee position, fee simple, fee simple absolute, fee simple conditional, fee simple defeasible, fee simple… …   Moby Thesaurus

  • fiefdom — fief|dom [ fifdəm ] noun count MAINLY LITERARY an area or organization that someone controls completely …   Usage of the words and phrases in modern English

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”