Page "Feudalism" Paragraph 16

The term feudalism is recent, first appearing in French in 1823, Italian in 1827, English in 1839, and in German in the second half of the nineteenth century.

It derived from " feodal " which was used in seventeenth-century French legal treatises ( 1614 ) and translated into English legal treatises as " feodal government ".

In the 18th century Adam Smith popularized the forms " feudal government " and " feudal system " in his book Wealth of Nations ( 1776 ).

In the 19th century the adjective " feudal " ( i. e. " the feudal government ") evolved into a noun: feudalism.