noun
- plural of wadset; Scottish legal instruments that transfer land as security for debt
Usage: Scottish legal term; archaic
Examples
- The old Scottish estate records contained several wadsets from the 17th century.
- Historians studied the wadsets to understand medieval property law.
- The lawyer explained that wadsets were an early form of mortgage in Scotland.
- These wadsets secured substantial debts against the family lands.
- The archive preserved dozens of wadsets dating back centuries.