Chattel
/ˈtʃæt.əl/noun
Movable personal property, especially property other than land.
Did you know?In medieval law, chattels were the movable goods that could be seized, sold, or inherited, and the word ultimately comes from the same Latin root as *capital*—*caput*, “head,” the thing that stood for wealth and ownership.
Etymological Timeline
Proto-Indo-European
PIE
*kaput-
“head”
Latin
Latin
caput
“head; a person counted as a unit”
Late Latin
Latin
capitale
“property; principal sum; wealth”
Old French
Old French
chatel
“property; goods; livestock”
Middle English
English
chatel
“movable property, goods”
Modern English
English
chattel
“movable personal property”