vassal

noun

vas·​sal ˈva-səl 

1

: a person under the protection of a feudal lord to whom he has vowed homage and fealty : a feudal tenant

2

: one in a subservient or subordinate position

vassal adjective

Examples of vassal in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

James by Percival Everett Edward Salem X Days Since the Genocide Began a poem Fintan O’Toole Like ‘Being Friends with a Hurricane’ For the fixers, enablers, and vassals who surround Donald Trump, the rewards of his friendship are not worth the risks. —Marilynne Robinson, The New York Review of Books, 26 June 2024

That's why Obama didn't intervene as Iran and Russia split Syria or when Iran turned Iraq into a vassal. —Thomas G. Moukawsher, Newsweek, 4 Nov. 2024

Washington’s adversaries have proxies, clients, dependents, and vassals rather than actual friends. —Nadia Schadlow, Foreign Affairs, 9 Oct. 2024

According to the document, Indigenous people could either voluntarily surrender their sovereignty and become vassals or bring war upon themselves – and perhaps lose their sovereignty anyway, after much bloodshed. —Diego Javier Luis, The Conversation, 2 Oct. 2024

Word History

Etymology

Middle English, borrowed from Anglo-French, borrowed from Medieval Latin vassallus "serf of the manor house, household servant, lord's man who has received a fief," borrowed from Gaulish *wassall-, derivative of *wass- "servant" (whence Medieval Latin vassus "serf, servant, holder of a fief"), going back to Celtic *wosto-, whence Welsh gwas "boy, servant," Middle Breton goas, Old Irish foss "servant, attendant"

Note: Celtic *wasto- is generally taken to continue Indo-European *upo-sth₂-o- "one who stands under," which may be correct if Gaulish *wass- shares with British Celtic unrounding of o in this position.

First Known Use

14th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Kids Definition

vassal

noun

vas·​sal ˈvas-əl 

: a person in the Middle Ages who received protection and land from a lord in return for loyalty and service