entail

Definition of entail

Pronunciation

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• Rhymes: -eɪl

Etymology

From Old English entaile ("carving") from Old French entaille, French, an incision, from entailler ("to cut away"); prefix en- Latin + tailler ("to cut"); late Latin feudum talliatum a fee entailed, i. e., curtailed or limited.

Noun

entail (plural entails)

1. That which is entailed. Hence:
   
   An estate in fee entailed, or limited in descent to a particular class of issue.
   The rule by which the descent is fixed.
   
   * A power of breaking the ancient entails, and of alienating their estates. - David Hume.
2. (obsolete) Delicately carved ornamental work; intaglio.
   
   * A work of rich entail. - Edmund Spenser.

Verb

to entail (third-person singular simple present entails, present participle entailing, simple past and past participle entailed)

1. (transitive) To imply or require.
   
   This activity will entail careful attention to detail.
2. (transitive) To settle or fix inalienably on a person or thing, or on a person and his descendants or a certain line of descendants; -- said especially of an estate; to bestow as an heritage.
   
   * Allowing them to entail their estates. - David Hume.
   
   * I here entail The crown to thee and to thine heirs forever. - Shakespeare
3. (transitive) (obsolete) To appoint hereditary possessor.
   
   * To entail him and his heirs unto the crown. - Shakespeare
4. (transitive) (obsolete) To cut or carve in a ornamental way.
   
   * Entailed with curious antics. - Edmund Spenser.

Derived terms

• entailment