3 September 2018

assart

[ahs-sart]

noun

British

historical

– piece of land converted from forest to arable use.

‘an assart cut from the woods a few years back’

More example sentences

‘In July 1203, at the height of the crisis in Normandy, King John instructed his chief forester, Hugh de Neville, to sell forest privileges ‘to make our profit by selling woods and demising assarts.’’
1.1 mass noun The action of converting forest to arable use.
‘heavy penalties were imposed for waste and assart’

Verb

[WITH OBJECT]

British

historical

– Convert (forest) to arable use.

‘the Earl of Salisbury was convicted of having assarted 2,300 acres of the parks in 1604’

More example sentences

‘In this system land around the village was gradually colonized from the waste (assarted), and cultivated for crops.’

‘Clearance of woodland and heath (assarting) continued, especially in the Weald of Kent and Sussex, in the Chiltern hills, and in the Arden district of Warwickshire.’

‘This land comprised dismembered lands of the old manses or lands won from the former or by assarting from the waste.’

‘In the period down to the early 1300s, he argued, it was population growth which explained the slow but steady economic expansion – the growth of towns, the process of assarting, and the quickening of activity generally.’

Origin

Late Middle English (as a noun): from Old French essarter, from medieval Latin ex(s)artare, based on ex ‘out’ + sar(r)ire ‘to weed’. The verb dates from the early 16th century.

Today’s quotes

What does it matter how many lovers you have if none of them gives you the universe?

– Jacques Lacan

On this day

3 September 1901 – Australian national flag flies for the first time. The Royal Exhibition Building in Melbourne has the honours. 3 September is celebrated each year as Australia’s National Flag Day.

3 September 1939 – Britain declares war on Germany.

3 September 1970 – death of Alan Wilson from barbiturate poisoning. It’s unclear whether his death was accidental or suicide. American guitarist and singer-songwriter for Canned Heat. He was 27. His death occurred exactly 14 months after the death of Rolling Stones founder and guitarist Brian Jones, two weeks before the death of Jimi Hendrix, four weeks before the death of Janis Joplin and exactly 10 months before the death of Jimmy Morrison, all of whom were 27 when they died, fanning concerns for musicians at this age and referencing the deaths as the 27 Club. Born 4 July 1943.