Meaning & use
Bookland
Last updated
In Anglo-Saxon England, land granted by a written charter from a king or lord, held as private property rather than under customary communal obligations.
See it in a sentence
The abbey received several estates of bookland as a royal gift, free from the usual dues owed to the crown.
Historians study surviving charters to trace how bookland spread private landholding across early medieval England.
A note on using this word
Bookland stood in contrast to "folkland," which was held under customary law rather than by written charter, marking one of the earliest forms of documented private land ownership in England.
Words with a similar meaning
Choose a synonym to suit the sentence. Meanings can overlap without being identical.
Words with an opposite meaning
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “Bookland”, then compare your use with the examples above.