A historical term for a fourth or quarter-share of land in some Germanic or Anglo-Saxon territories; a land division unit.
From Old English 'feordhing' or 'ferding,' related to 'feorod' (fourth). The -ing suffix here indicates a division or portion, not an action. This term appears in medieval English land records.
Medieval land measurement terms reveal how differently people divided and owned property. A 'fierding' was one of several competing systems in early English law, but 'hide' and 'virgate' eventually won out, leaving 'fierding' buried in old documents.
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