Boy, am I on a roll....This was shared with me and became a valueable tool, as many of us just do not get some terms in deed records. A Dictionary of Land Terms Abstract Books - List individual entries chronologically by district land office (Old Federal books are at Bureau of Land Management) Abstract of Title - Shortened versions of the documents affecting the title to land Acquired Lands - Federal lands obtained by purchase, condemnation or gift under laws other than public land laws Appurtenances - Things belonging to another thing such a yards and gardens to a building Appurtenant - An accessory incidental to land in which a person owns an estate. Such as an agreement or right f way across the land of another. Assigns - To transfer property, particularly personal or moveable property voluntarily or for consideration Benefice - A kind of land tenure adopted in the Frankish kingdom in the eighth century whereby a seigneur leased land to a freeman in beneficium (for his benefit) usually for the tenant's life but sometimes hereditary; later an ecclesiastical office to which church attached perpetual right of receiving income. Bounty Land Warrant - A right to obtain land, a specific number of acres of unallocated public land granted for military service. BLW or BLWT Caveat emptor - Let the buyer beware. Cestui que trust - A beneficiary of property held by a trustee in trust. Cestui que use - A person whose property was transferred for the benefit of another person. Cestui que vie - A life estate transferred to a person Chattels real - Rights derived out of real estate, devolved on personal representatives, not heir Close - Field or piece of land separate from others or from common land by a bank or hedge, legally unjustified entry into such is trespass (quare clausum fregit) Conveyance Deed - Transfer of property from one person to another. Copyhold - A tenure of land in England (feudal) abolished in 1925, when it all became freehold Corporeal Hereditament - Right to inheritance of tangible property, e.g. an estate in land Corporeal Rights - Tangible rights in property, such as an estate in land as opposed to "incorporeal" rights. Croft - A small parcel of land. Curtesy - The life estate of a widower n the lands of his deceased spouse, if he sired issue by her which were or was borm alive Customary freehold - privileged copyholds Deed - A document in writing, if signed and acknowledged by which an estate or interest in land is transferred from a grantor to a grantee, or donor to a donee if a gift deed. Deed Poll - A deed executed or signed by one person only, even though other grantors were involved, and in some instances the names of the grantees were added later. Demise - A lease, transferring from a lessor to a lessee a leasehold estate for a term of years, for life, or "at the will" of the landlord. Devisee - One to whom real property is given in a will. (Devisor - one who gives the property) Direct Deed - Pertaining to grantor deeds Disposal - A transaction which leads to the transfer of the title of public lands to non-Federal ownership Disseisin - The ouster or removal of a person from possession of real property. District Land Office Plat Book - A book of maps which show the location of the land of the patentee (In Cartographic Branch of the National Archives) Tract Book - A book which lists individual entries by range and township (in Bureau of Land Management) Donation Application - Application for frontier land in Florida, New Mexico, Oregon or Washington. Dower - After the death of a husband, a widow's one-third interest in his land for the rest of her life Easement - A right of way, right of use but not possession over or in the lands of another person. Eminent Domain - The right and power of government to condemn private property for public use if just compensation is paid the property owner. Originally published in WCGS Newsletter (September 1997).