An estate tail; an estate of inheritance given to a man and the heirs of his body, or limited to certain classes of particular heirs. It corresponds to the feudum talliatum of the feudal law, and the idea is believed to have been borrowed from the Roman law, where, by way of fidei commissa, lands might be entailed upon children and freedmen and their descendants, with restrictions as to alienation. 1 Washb. Real Prop. 66. For the varieties and special characteristics of this kind of estate, see TAIL.