glebe

views updated May 14 2018

glebe / glēb/ • n. hist. a piece of land serving as part of a clergyman's benefice and providing income. ∎ archaic land; fields.

glebe

views updated May 29 2018

glebe was a portion of land allocated to support a priest. Though originally it was intended as the sole support, it soon required substantial augmentation, usually through tithes. At the Norman Conquest, the glebe was twice the holding of a villein: in the 18th cent. many glebes were enlarged, either in compensation for enclosures or in lieu of tithes.

J. A. Cannon

glebe

views updated Jun 27 2018

glebe soil, earth; field; portion of land attached to a benefice. XIV. — L. glēba, glǣba clod, land, soil; cf. Pol. gleba, Russ. glȳba clod, and see GLOBE.

Glebe

views updated May 09 2018

Glebe. Land which belongs to the endowment of a parish and which provides an income from farming by the priest himself or a tenant.