“That Money is not to be accounted Goods or Chattels, because it is not of it self valuable ….Chattels are either personal or real. Personal, may be so called in two respects: One, because they belong immediately to the person of a Man, as a Bow, Horse, etc. The other, for that being any way injuriously withheld from us, we have no means to recover them, but Personal Actions. Chattels real, are such as either appertain not immediately to the person, but to some other thing, by way of dependency, as a Box with Charters of Land, Apples upon a Tree, or a Tree it self growing on the Ground…. [O]r else such as are issuing out of some immoveable thing to a person, as a Lease or Rent for the term of years.” Thomas Blount, Nomo-Lexicon: A Law-Dictionary (1670).
chattel personal. A tangible good or an intangible right (such as a patent).
— Also termed personal chattel. [Cases: Property
4. C.J.S. Property §§ 14–21, 23.]
chattel real. A real-property interest that is less than a freehold or fee, such as a leasehold estate. • The most important chattel real is an estate for years in land, which is considered a chattel because it lacks the indefiniteness of time essential to real property.
— Also termed real chattel. [Cases: Property
4. C.J.S. Property §§ 14–21, 23.]
chattel vegetable. A movable article of a vegetable origin, such as timber, undergrowth, corn, or fruit.
local chattel. Personal property that is affixed to land; FIXTURE.
personal chattel. See chattel personal.
real chattel. See chattel real.
unique chattel. A chattel that is absolutely irreplaceable because it is one of a kind.
