A former French tax or duty, or a court proceeding; an archaic legal term.
From Old French 'assize,' from Latin 'assidere' (to sit by or assess). This legal vocabulary entered English during the Norman Conquest and remained embedded in the British legal system for centuries.
Medieval lawyers essentially invented the modern tax system using Latin words, and English inherited these terms wholesale—we still use 'assess' and 'assizes' in courtrooms today without realizing we're speaking medieval French.
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