Chattel

Pronunciation

• IPA: /ˈtʃæt.É™l/
• Rhymes: -ætÉ™l

Origin

From Middle English chatel, from Old French chatel, from Medieval Latin capitāle (English capital), from Latin capitālis ("of the head"), from caput ("head") + -alis ("-al"). Compare cattle ("cows"), which is from an Anglo-Norman variant. Compare also capital and kith and kine ("all one’s possessions"), which also use “cow” to mean “property”.

Full definition of chattel

Adjective

1. Commonly used to describe the treatment of Russian serfs as property.

Noun

1. Tangible, movable property.
• 1990, Terry Pratchett and , Good Omens, Corgi, p.387… although of course the firm had changed hands many times over the centuries, … But the box has always been part of the chattels, as it were.
2. A slave.

Related terms

• capital
• cattle

Anagrams

• latchet