Latin

Noun

virgāta f ‎(genitive virgātae); first declension

1. The yardland or virgate, an English land measure usually comprising ¼ of a hide and notionally equal to 30 acres.

Usage notes

The hide was originally intended to represent the amount of land farmed by a single household but was primarily connected to obligations owed to the Saxon and Norman kings and thus varied greatly from place to place. Around the time of the Domesday Book under the Normans, the hide was usually but not always the land expected to produce £1 (1 Tower pound of sterling silver) in income over the year, meaning the yardland was expected to produce 60 p. (3 Tower ounces of sterling silver). In fact, the yardland became associated with its own obligations and thus also varied, in some places being reckoned as ¹/₆ of a hide rather than ¼.

Declension

First declension.

Descendants

• English: virgate

Etymology 2

Adjective

virgāta

1. nominative feminine singular of virgātus
2. nominative neuter plural of virgātus
3. accusative neuter plural of virgātus
4. vocative feminine singular of virgātus
5. nominative neuter plural of virgātus

virgātā

1. ablative feminine singular of virgātus

References

• VIRGATA in Charles du Fresne du Cange’s Glossarium Mediæ et Infimæ Latinitatis (augmented edition, 1883–1887)