usufruct

Definitions

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

  • noun 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.

from The Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia

  • noun In law, the right of enjoying all the advantages derivable from the use of something which belongs to another so far as is compatible with the substance of the thing not being destroyed or injured.

Examples

  • The term usufruct refers to the right to use and enjoy something that belongs to another person when it extends beyond their property.

    The Fruit Hunters

  • Ethical principles of "usufruct" trace back to Roman legal statute.

    The Real Dirt on a Sustainable Economy

  • There are pieces of our own territory we cannot access, cruise ships plying our waters that we are barred from by our national passports, land given in usufruct for 99 years only to people who can prove they weren't born here, and joint venture companies for people who say "Madame et Monsieur" or speak in the cadences of Spain.

    Yoani Sanchez: Tania Bruguera, an Extraordinary Cuban Artist

  • Though land was owned by the state, citizens enjoyed the usufruct of their labor and the Spaniards were astounded by the opulence of Tenochtitlan's markets.

    The other (and greater) Moctezuma I

  • I set out on this ground which I suppose to be self evident, “that the earth belongs in usufruct to the living;” that the dead have neither powers nor rights over it.

    The Volokh Conspiracy » Change I Can Believe In

  • This law provides farmers with a lifetime right of usufruct over currently held land, removing the previous risk of periodic redistribution.

    Water profile of Eritrea

  • And Jefferson's radically democratic notion that "the earth belongs in usufruct to the living" was not the "impression of the moment" but rather an ideal he maintained throughout his life.

    An Exchange on James Madison

Note

The word 'usufruct' comes from a Latin phrase meaning 'use and enjoyment'.

Today’s word has been chosen with artist Justin Brice Guariglia in conjunction with his REDUCE SPEED NOW! installation open now at Somerset House until 29 April 2019. The work forms part of their two-week Earth Day Season of commissions and events by artists and writers whose explores the important role of language and storytelling in promoting collective action on the global climate crisis. Find out more here: http://bit.ly/EarthDaySH2019