entail

Etymology 1

From Middle English entaillen,

from Old French entaillier, entailler (“to notch”, literally “to cut in”);

from prefix en- + tailler (“to cut”),

from Late Latin taliare,

from Latin talea. Compare late Latin feudum talliatum (“a fee entailed, i.e., curtailed or limited”).

Verb

entail (third-person singular simple present entails, present participle entailing, simple past and past participle entailed)

1. (transitive) To imply, require, or invoke.This activity will entail careful attention to detail.
2. (transitive) To settle or fix inalienably on a person or thing, or on a person and his descendants or a certain line of descendants; -- said especially of an estate; to bestow as a heritage. quotations ▼
3. (transitive, obsolete) To appoint hereditary possessor. quotations ▼
4. (transitive, obsolete) To cut or carve in an ornamental way. quotations ▼

Derived terms

• entailment