A species of estate at will , or customary estate in England, the only visible title to which consists of the copies of the court rolls , which are made out by the steward of the manor, on a tenant’s being admitted to any parcel of land, or tenement belonging to the manor. It is an estate at the will of the lord, yet such a will as Is agreeable to the custom of the manor, which customs are preserved and evidenced by the rolls of the several courts baron, in which they are entered. 2 Bl. Comm. 95. In a larger sense, copyhold Is said to import every customary tenure, (that is, every tenure pending on the particular custom of a manor.) as opposed to free socage, or freehold, which may now (since the abolition of knight-service ) be considered as the general or common-law tenure of the country. 1 Steph. Comm. 210.
Black’s Law Online Dictionary
