What does "entailment" mean?

[KaBudokan]

Yes, I've looked it up.

Just not quite sure I get it. I believe it can mean something in terms of inehrtiance law, but I am not sure exactly. It is a vocab word from "To Kill a Mockingbird," and I want to make sure I know what it means so I don't look TOO stupid when my students ask me.

Thanks!!

 

[Praetor]

en·tail

en·tail (en-tal?, in-) verb, transitive
en·tailed, en·tail·ing, en·tails

1.To have, impose, or require as a necessary accompaniment or consequence: an investment that entailed high risk.
2.To limit the inheritance of (property) to a specified succession of heirs.
3.To bestow or impose on a person or a specified succession of heirs.

noun

1.a. The act of entailing, especially property. b. The state of being entailed.
2.An entailed estate.
3.A predetermined order of succession, as to an estate or to an office.
4.Something transmitted as if by unalterable inheritance.


[Middle English entaillen, to limit inheritance to specific heirs : en-, intensive pref.. See en-1 + taille, tail. See tail2.]

? en·tail?ment noun

Excerpted from The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, Third Edition Copyright © 1992 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Electronic version licensed from Lernout & Hauspie Speech Products N.V., further reproduction and distribution restricted in accordance with the Copyright Law of the United States. All rights reserved.

 

[SuperSix]

Go Here.

 

[UG]

entail Entail means literally 'put a tail on' -- but not the sort that grows. This is a tail in the sense of a 'legal limitation.' It came from the Old French taille, meaning literally 'cut,' which is also related to English detail, retail, tailor, and tally. The coining of entail itself probably took place in Anglo-Norman. Its current main meaning 'have as a necessary or logical consequence' did not develop until as late as the 19th century. --Dictionary of Word Origins, John Ayto (1990) Arcade