duke, duchess, count, countess, marquis, baron, squire, page, as well as such words as courtier, retinue, sir, madam, mistress. The list might well be extended to include words relating to the economic organization of society-manor, demesne, bailiff, vassal, homage, peasant, bondman, slave, servant, and caitiff-since they often have a political or administrative aspect.
(2) Ecclesiastical words
The church was scarcely second to the government as an object of Norman interest and ambition. The higher clergy, occupying positions of wealth and power, were, as we have seen, practically all Normans. Ecclesiastical preferment opened the way to a career that often led to the highest political offices at court. In monasteries and religious houses French was for a long time the usual language. Accordingly we find in English such French words as religion, theology, sermon, homily, sacrament, baptism, communion, confession, penance, prayer, orison, lesson, passion, psalmody; such indications of rank or class as clergy, clerk, prelate, cardinal, legate, dean, chaplain, parson, pastor, vicar, sexton, abbess, novice, friar, hermit; the names of objects associated with the service or with the religious life, such as crucifix, crosier, miter, surplice, censer, incense, lectern, image, chancel, chantry, chapter, abbey, convent, priory, hermitage, cloister, sanctuary; words expressing such fundamental religious or theological concepts as creator, savior, trinity, virgin, saint, miracle, mystery, faith, heresy, schism, reverence, devotion, sacrilege, simony, temptation, damnation, penitence, contrition, remission, absolution, redemption, salvation, immortality; and the more general virtues of piety, sanctity, charity, mercy, pity, obedience, as well as the word virtue itself. We should include also a number of adjectives, like solemn, divine, reverend, devout, and verbs, such as preach, pray, chant, repent, confess, adore, sacrifice, convert, anoint, ordain.
(3) Law
French was so long the language of the law courts in England that the greater part of the English legal vocabulary comes from the language of the conquerors. The fact that we speak of justice and equity instead of gerihte, judgment rather than dom, crime in place of synn, gylt, undæd, etc., shows how completely we have adopted the terminology of French law. Even where the Old English word survives it has lost its technical sense. In the same way we say bar, assize, eyre, plea, suit, plaintiff, defendant, judge, advocate, attorney, bill, petition, complaint, inquest, summons, hue and cry, indictment, jury, juror, panel, felon, evidence, proof, bail, ransom, mainpernor, judgment, verdict, sentence, decree, award, fine, forfeit processes: sue, plead, implead, accuse, indict, arraign, depose, blame, arrest, seize, pledge, warrant, assail, assign, judge, condemn, convict, award, amerce, distrain, imprison, banish, acquit, pardon. The names of many crimes and misdemeanors are French: felony, trespass, assault, arson, larceny, fraud, libel, slander, perjury, adultery, and many others. Suits involving property brought into use such words as property, estate, tenement, chattels, appurtenances, encumbrance, bounds, seisin, tenant, dower, legacy, patrimony, heritage, heir, executor, entail. Common adjectives like just, innocent, culpable have obvious legal import though they are also of wider application., punishment, prison, gaol, pillory. We have likewise a rich array of verbs associated wit
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