droit de seigneur

droit de seigneur
   copulation by a male employer with a female employee
   Literally, a right of the lord of the Manor, which was said to include, fictitiously in most cases, copulating with each virgin in his domain. In modern times such a privilege was claimed by other dominant males, especially in the entertainment industry:
    The droit de seigneur died with the Hollywood czars. (Deighton, 1972)
   The feudal system functioned primarily on the lord's ability to demand unpaid labour from tenants or villeins, in return for protection.
   This practice coined euphemisms such as bederipe (reaping by request) and boonwork (granting a favour):
    William did additional ploughing as 'boonwork', and in the great communal effort of the summer and autumn helped to gather in the lord's harvest. (Mayberry, 1998 — William de Mora was a 13th-century tenant farmer)
   Another word for this forced labour, loveboonwork, can only have been used ironically.

How not to say what you mean: A dictionary of euphemisms. . 2014.

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  • Droit de seigneur — (pronounced|dʀwa d(ə) sɛɲœʀ), French for the lord s right , is a term now popularly used to describe an alleged legal right allowing the lord of an estate to take the virginity of the estate s virgins. It is also spelled droit du seigneur (IPA|… …   Wikipedia

  • Droit du seigneur — ● Droit du seigneur droit qui a été souvent défini comme identique au droit de cuissage ou de culage …   Encyclopédie Universelle

  • droit du seigneur — 1784, alleged medieval custom whereby the feudal lord had the right to have sex with the bride of his vassal on their wedding night before she went to her husband, from French, lit. the lord s right. There is little evidence that it actually… …   Etymology dictionary

  • droit du seigneur — [drwä dü se nyër′] n. [Fr, right of the lord] 1. an alleged right, reputedly claimed by some feudal lords, to the first night with a vassal s bride 2. any alleged right arrogantly presumed …   English World dictionary

  • Droit du seigneur — Vasily Polenov: Le droit du Seigneur (1874). A Victorian artist s painting of an old man bringing his young daughters to their feudal lord. Droit du seigneur (/ …   Wikipedia

  • Droit de seigneur — Wassilij Dimitriewitsch Polenow zeigt 1874 wie ein alter Mann seine Tochter zum Feudalherrn bringt. Mit ius primae noctis (lateinisch „Recht der ersten Nacht“; auch jus primae noctis; auf französisch droit de seigneur) wird das R …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • droit de seigneur — n. hist. the alleged right of a feudal lord to have sexual intercourse with a vassal s bride on her wedding night. Etymology: F, = lord s right * * * droit de seigneur 7 [ˌdrwʌ də senˈjɜː(r)] [ˌdrwʌ də senˈjɜːr] noun uncountable (f …   Useful english dictionary

  • droit du seigneur — drwädu̅e̅sānʸœœr noun Etymology: French, right of the lord : a supposed legal or customary right at the time of a marriage whereby a feudal lord had sexual relations with a vassal s bride on her wedding night * * * Fr. /drddwann dyuu se nyuerdd / …   Useful english dictionary

  • droit du seigneur — droit du sei•gneur fr. [[t]drwa dü sɛˈnyœr[/t]] n. fot why the supposed right of a feudal lord to have sexual relations with the bride of a vassal on her wedding night • Etymology: 1815–25; < F: lit., right of the lord …   From formal English to slang

  • droit du seigneur — noun Etymology: French, right of the lord Date: 1825 a supposed legal or customary right of a feudal lord to have sexual relations with a vassal s bride on her wedding night …   New Collegiate Dictionary

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