Definition
An obsolete Latin term appearing in old English legal records meaning to break up or disturb ground. Most commonly encountered in the phrase *frussare terram* — to break or plough up new ground, that is, to bring previously uncultivated or fallow land under the plough for the first time. The term belongs to the vocabulary of medieval land tenure and agricultural obligation rather than to any formal doctrine or legal test.
Why It Matters in Research
Researchers encountering this term will find it almost exclusively in medieval English land records, manorial surveys, and ecclesiastical cartularies. Its significance is contextual: the act of breaking new ground carried legal weight in the manorial system because it could affect obligations running with the land, alter the classification of arable versus waste, and in some contexts trigger duties owed to a lord or disputes over customary tenure. A document recording that a tenant did or did not *frussare terram* may therefore be evidence of a disputed right, a breach of customary obligation, or a claimed improvement.
Because the term is confined to archaic Latin administrative and conveyancing records, it will not appear in common law case reporters or statute compilations from later periods. Researchers working in printed legal dictionaries beyond Burrill will find little coverage; the term effectively disappears from legal vocabulary as the manorial system and its specialized Latin record-keeping recede. When encountered in primary sources, Cowell's *Interpreter* (cited by Burrill) is the most immediate secondary reference point for contextual confirmation, though Cowell's own treatment is brief.
Do not confuse the term with general Latin legal vocabulary relating to land conveyance (*feoffment*, *seisin*, *livery*). Frussare is not a conveyancing term; it describes a physical act with potential customary legal consequences, not a transfer of title or an estate concept.
Historical Dictionary Support
Burrill's Law Dictionary is the single historical source covering this term among standard English-language legal dictionaries. Burrill's entry is spare: it identifies the term as Low Latin (*L. Lat.*), notes its appearance in old records, gives the translation "to break up," and supplies the illustrative phrase *frussare terram* with the meaning "to break or plough up new ground," citing Cowell. No doctrinal elaboration is offered, and none appears warranted given the term's narrow function as descriptive record language rather than as a term of legal art. Jacob's Law Dictionary, Tomlin's, and Black's do not appear to carry independent entries for this term, suggesting Burrill (following Cowell) represents the extent of the standard dictionary tradition on the point. Researchers should treat any entry beyond Burrill as derivative.