emphyteusis
emphyteusis (em-fi-t[y]oo-sis), n. [Greek “implanting”] Greek, Roman & civil law. A contract by which one person delivered to another (the emphyteuta) a tract of land, either in perpetuity or for a long period of time, in exchange for the obligation to cultivate the land and to pay annual rental. • In Roman law, the land was state-owned (ager vectigalis). In the 5th century, emphyteusis was officially recognized as distinct from ownership or a lease. The land’s lessee or tenant, called an emphyteuta, had to bear any burdens imposed on the land. Although the emphyteusis was alienable, the owner had to consent to the sale. (Cf. SUPERFICIARIUS.) Unlike a usufruct, emphyteusis did not terminate with the death of the emphyteuta. Perpetual emphyteusis was abolished in the 18th century.
