A species of estate at will, or customary estate in England, the only vis-ible title to whlch consists of the copies of the court rolls, which are* made out by the steward of the manor, on a tenant’s belng admitted to any parcel of land, or tenement belonging to the manor. It is an estate-at the will of the lord, yet such a wlll as is agreeable to the custom of the manor, which customs are preserved and evidenced by the rolls of the several courts baron, in which they are entered. 2 Bl. Comm. 96. In a larger sense, copyhold is said to Import every customary tenure, (that is, every ten-ure pending on the particular custom of a manor,) as opposed to free socage, or free-hold, which may now (since the abolition of knlght-service) be considered as the gen-eral or common-law tenure of the country. 1 Steph. Comm. 210
Source: Black's Law Dictionary 2nd Ed (1910)
