Entail

• POS: Noun, Verb (transitive)
• HYPHEN: en=tail

CIDE DICTIONARY

Entail, n. [OE. entaile carving, OF. entaille, F., an incision, fr. entailler to cut away; pref. en- (L. in) + tailler to cut; LL. feudum talliatum a fee entailed, i. e., curtailed or limited. See Tail limitation, Tailor.].

•  That which is entailed.  [1913 Webster]

  "A power of breaking the ancient entails, and of alienating their estates."  [1913 Webster]
•  Delicately carved ornamental work; intaglio.  Spenser.  [1913 Webster]

Entail, v. t. [OE. entailen to carve, OF. entailler. See Entail, n.].

•  To settle or fix inalienably on a person or thing, or on a person and his descendants or a certain line of descendants; -- said especially of an estate; to bestow as an heritage.  [1913 Webster]

  "Allowing them to entail their estates."  [1913 Webster]

  "I here entail
  The crown to thee and to thine heirs forever."  [1913 Webster]
•  To appoint hereditary possessor.  [1913 Webster]

  "To entail him and his heirs unto the crown."  [1913 Webster]
•  To cut or carve in an ornamental way.  [1913 Webster]

  "Entailed with curious antics."  [1913 Webster]

OXFORD DICTIONARY

Entail, v. & n.
--v.tr.
1 necessitate or involve unavoidably (the work entails much effort).
2 Law bequeath (property etc.) so that it remains within a family.
3 (usu. foll. by on) bestow (a thing) inalienably.
--n. Law 1 an entailed estate.
2 the succession to such an estate.

Derivative

entailment n.

Etymology

ME, f. EN-(1) + AF taile TAIL(2)

THESAURUS

Entail

add a codicil, affect, allegorize, allude to, argue, assume, be indicative of, be significant of, be symptomatic of, bequeath, bequeathal, bequest, bespeak, betoken, birthright, borough-English, bring, bring to mind, call for, cause, characterize, coheirship, comprise, connote, contain, coparcenary, demand, denominate, denote, devise, differentiate, disclose, display, execute a will, express, gavelkind, give evidence, give rise to, give token, hand down, hand on, heirloom, heirship, hereditament, heritable, heritage, heritance, highlight, hint, identify, implicate, imply, import, impose, incorporeal hereditament, indicate, infer, inheritance, insinuate, intimate, involve, law of succession, lead to, leave, legacy, line of succession, make a bequest, make a will, manifest, mark, mean, mean to say, mode of succession, necessitate, note, occasion, pass on, patrimony, point indirectly to, postremogeniture, presume, presuppose, primogeniture, require, reveal, reversion, show, signify, stand for, subsume, succession, suggest, suppose, symptomatize, symptomize, take, take for granted, take in, testify, transmit, ultimogeniture, will, will and bequeath, will to

ROGET THESAURUS

Entail

Retention

VB retain, keep, hold fast one's own, hold tight one's own, hold fast one's ground, hold tight one's ground, clinch, clench, clutch, grasp, gripe, hug, have a firm hold of, secure, withhold, detain, hold back, keep back, keep close, husband, reserve, have in stock, have on hand, keep in stock, entail, tie up, settle.

Cause

VB be the cause of, originate, give origin to, give rise, to, give occasion to, cause, occasion, sow the seeds of, kindle, suscitate, bring on, bring to bring pass, bring about, produce, create, set up, set afloat, set on foot, found, broach, institute, lay the foundation of, lie at the root of, procure, induce, draw down, open the door to, superinduce, evoke, entail, operate, elicit, provoke, conduce to, contribute, have a hand in the pie, have a finger in the pie, determine, decide, turn the scale, have a common origin, derive its origin.

Implication

VB be latent, lurk, smolder, underlie, make no sign, escape observation, escape detection, escape recognition, lie hid, laugh in one's sleeve, keep back, involve, imply, understand, allude to, infer, leave an inference, entail, whisper, read between the lines.