usufruct
Language: English
Part of speech: noun
Pronunciation: ipa: /ˈjuːz(j)ʊfɹʌkt/
enpr: yo͞oʹzə-frŭkt'
enpr: -sə-
ipa: /ˈjuzəˌfɹəkt/
ipa: /-sə-/
Forms: form: usufructs
form: usufruit
Etymology: From Late Latin ūsufrūctus, from ūsus + frūctus (“usage of the fruits of production”). Cognate with French usufruit, Italian usufrutto, usofrutto, Occitan usufrug, Portuguese usufruto, Spanish usufructo.
Senses: examples: text: We ought to obſerve, that Uſufruct or Uſe for the Profits, and other ſort of Servitudes are the Rights which we enjoy gratuitouſly: For if we pay an Annual Rent, 'twill be then a kind of Letting or Hiring.
ref: 1729, [Samuel von Pufendorf], “Of Right over Other Mens Goods or Possessions”, in Basil Kennett, transl., Of the Law of Nature and Nations. Eight Books. Written in Latin by the Baron Pufendorf, Counsellor of State to His Late Swedish Majesty, and to the Late King of Prussia. …, 4th corr. edition, London: Printed for J. Walthoe, R. Wilkin, J. and J. Bonwicke, S. Birt, T. Ward, and T[homas] Osborne, →OCLC, page 407, § VII, footnote 1:
text: [T]eaching the Koran is not property; neither does usufruct constitute property (according to the sentiments of our doctors), because that is not substantial or permanent, whereas property is a thing of a permanent nature, and what constitutes actual wealth; […]
ref: 1870, [Burhan al-Din al-Marghinani], Standish Grove Grady, “Of the Mihr, or Dower”, in Charles Hamilton, transl., The Hedaya, or Guide: A Commentary on the Mussulman Laws, 2nd edition, volume I, London: W[illia]m H. Allen & Co., 13 Waterloo Place, S.W., →OCLC, book II (Of Nikkah, or Marriage), page 47, column 2:
text: In that old former time this one was Chang, that one was Eng. The sympathy existing between the two was most extraordinary; it was so fine, so strong, so subtle, that what the one ate the other digested; when one slept, the other snored; if one sold a thing, the other scooped the usufruct.
ref: 1888 November, Mark Twain [pseudonym; Samuel Langhorne Clemens], “Dinner to Hamilton W[right] Mabie”, in Mark Twain’s Speeches, New York, N.Y.; London: Harper & Brothers Publishers, published 1910, →OCLC:
text: Every American college president, it appears, is in duty bound to write and utter at least one book upon the nature, aims and usufructs of the Higher Education.
ref: 1931 September, H[enry] L[ouis] Mencken, “The Boon of Culture”, in The American Mercury, Torrance, Calif.: American Mercury, ISSN 0002-998X, →OCLC, page 36; reprinted in H. L. Mencken, editor, A Mencken Chrestomathy: Edited and Annotated by the Author, New York, N.Y.: Vintage Books, May 1982, part XVII (Pedagogy), page 313
text: International law recognizes a use right that is akin to the civil law usufruct or the common law life estate, lease, or profit. Like other property rights, such a usufruct may be characterized as an entitlement of a person that is related to an immovable or movable thing. It differs from ownership in certain respects. First, although the holder is entitled to the exclusive possession and use of the thing, and to all fruits it produces, he or she may not cause damage to the thing itself. Second, the duration of a usufruct may be limited in time, unlike ownership which is usually viewed as perpetual. Finally, the rights of the usufruct holder are effective against both the owner and the world in general.
ref: 2014, John G. Sprankling, “An International Definition of ‘Property’”, in The International Law of Property, Oxford; New York, N.Y.: Oxford University Press, →ISBN:
topics: law
glosses: The legal right to use and derive profit or benefit from property that belongs to another person, as long as the property is not damaged.
Synonyms: english: Scots law
translation: Scots law
word: liferent
Derived terms: usufruction
usufructuary