Seised

Seised is the past participle of seize used in English, most commonly in British English to indicate possession or title to property. In American English the more common form is seized. The term is often found in legal, historical, or formal texts and is closely tied to the older concept of seisin.

In property law, to be seised of an estate means to hold legal title or immediate possession of the property. The phrase appears in deeds, wills, and court records, and it reflects a historic framework for ownership that evolved into modern concepts of title and possession. The related noun seisin (also sometimes seizin) denotes the actual possession or the right to possess a feudal estate.

Etymology traces seised to the verb seize, with the spelling reflecting French influence on older English legal vocabulary. The form seised preserves the traditional pronunciation and orthography found in many formal documents, while seized became the dominant spelling in American usage and in contemporary everyday writing.

Usage notes: Seised and seized convey the same basic idea of possession, but seised is largely archaic or formal and is more likely to appear in historical writing, genealogical records, or legal documents from earlier periods. In modern plain-language contexts, speakers and writers typically use seized or rephrase to express possession, such as “held the property.”

Examples: A deed may state that the grantee was seised of the lands. In contemporary writing, this idea would often be conveyed by saying the grantee held the lands.