1. a feudal tenure of land involving payment of rent or other non-military service to a superior
Usage: historical; legal

Examples

• The peasant held his land in socage, paying annual rent to the lord.
• Socage was a common form of land tenure in medieval England.
• Under socage tenure, the tenant owed agricultural services rather than military duty.
• The legal document specified that the property was held in free socage.
• Socage differed from knight service in that it required civilian rather than military obligations.
• Many small farmers worked land under socage arrangements during the feudal period.