Land held in absolute ownership without feudal duties or obligations; a type of freehold property.
From Medieval Latin allodium, derived from Frankish *alod (full, complete property). The term contrasts with feudum (fief). It combines allo- (other) with -odium, possibly from *od (property).
Alodium is Latin's way of capturing something radical—property so completely yours that it doesn't come with lords, vassals, or obligations. Medieval legal writers invented this term to describe a property freedom that feudalism was specifically designed to prevent.
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