noun
- a tenant farmer in medieval England who held land in exchange for agricultural services
Usage: historical; archaic
Examples
- The sockman worked the lord’s demesne land during harvest season.
- Medieval records show that sockmen had more freedom than villeins.
- A sockman could inherit his holding and pass it to his heirs.
- The Domesday Book recorded many sockmen in eastern England.
- Unlike serfs, a sockman could leave his lord’s estate if he wished.