droit de seigneur


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droit de seigneur

In feudalism, a lord's right to have sexual intercourse with one of his serf's brides on their wedding night. This French phrase means the "right of the lord" in English. As the lord of the manor, I can exercise my droit de seigneur on her wedding night.
See also: DE
Farlex Dictionary of Idioms. © 2022 Farlex, Inc, all rights reserved.

droit de seigneur

The supposed right of a nobleman to deflower the bride of any of his serfs on their wedding night. The phrase, which translates as “the lord's right” was also known as “the law / right of the first night.” Despite its widespread appearance in popular culture, reports of the “right” having been exercised are very rare. It was more a representation for or a warning about the power that a feudal lord could exert over his tenants. Mozart's opera, The Marriage of Figaro, involves Count Almaviva's efforts to exercise his right with Figaro's bride, Susanna. The phrase survives as a seldom-used metaphor for unlimited authority over another, such as a boss over an employee, notwithstanding the gender of either party.
See also: DE
Endangered Phrases by Steven D. Price Copyright © 2011 by Steven D. Price
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References in periodicals archive ?
Prosecutor Pietro Forno said: "It seems that in this family there was a sort of right of 'droit de seigneur' of the father over the daughter."
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By updating the action from opulent 18th century Seville to a glossy, minimally furnished 1930s setting, the director Lluis Pasqualhasmade nonsense of the droit de seigneur theme in Beaumarchais' original play.
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In Tbilisi I know of two examples of young women being kidnapped by men who, having forced them to have sex, then invoke a form of droit de seigneur and approach the parents to formalise a kind of marriage.
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But he also added a few exotic embellishments to his droit de seigneur.
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Her particular boss sees the typing pool very much as a mediaeval overlord saw the virgins in one of his villages: it was his right, his droit de seigneur, to bed the bride-to-be before the prospective husband.
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But now, thanks to this case we have Saddam Hussein, the bad boy in the playground, jeering and whooping over in Iraq, not to mention the other Arab leaders who are greatly enjoying Clinton's discomfort even though their promiscuity is just as wanton and may even involve exercising a droit de seigneur over women whose refusal to co-operate would be seen as treason.
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The sheer power of television means that its practitioners have become the new aristocracy, and I shudder whenever I see that patronage being abused, in a latter-day version of the old droit de seigneur.
Victor Lewis-Smith column: Wozza serfs a sickly dish
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