Advertisement

entail (v.)

mid-14c., "convert (an estate) into 'fee tail' (feudum talliatum)," from en- (1) "make" + taile "legal limitation," especially of inheritance, ruling who succeeds in ownership and preventing the property from being sold off, from Anglo-French taile, Old French taillie, past participle of taillier "allot, cut to shape," from Late Latin taliare "to split" (see tailor (n.)). Sense of "have consequences" is 1829, via the notion of "inseparable connection." Related: Entailed; entailling; entailment.

Others are reading

Advertisement
Definitions of entail from WordNet
1
entail (v.)
have as a logical consequence;
Synonyms: imply / mean
entail (v.)
impose, involve, or imply as a necessary accompaniment or result;
What does this move entail?
Synonyms: implicate
entail (v.)
limit the inheritance of property to a specific class of heirs;
Synonyms: fee-tail
2
entail (n.)
land received by fee tail;
entail (n.)
the act of entailing property; the creation of a fee tail from a fee simple;
From wordnet.princeton.edu