Dictionary
Words, grammatical forms and meanings linked to the ontology.
apron-string hold en · NOUN
Pronunciation
Meanings
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(idiomatic, informal, obsolete) An estate held by a man during his wife's life.
He resided at Staleck and the fief made was converted into an "apron-string hold" and hereditary fief, for the benefit of his wife and daughter; for that in opposition to the Emperor himself, he had remained firm to the Archbishop in a Diet held at Mainz.
1872, W. O. von Horn, The Rhine: History and Legends of Its Castles, Abbeys, Monasteries, and Towns, J. Niedner, page 270:
Forms