landholder

[ land-hohl-der ]

/ ˈlændˌhoʊl dər /

a holder, owner, or occupant of land.

Origin of landholder

late Middle English word dating back to 1375–1425; see origin at land, holder

land·hold·ing, adjective, noun

It made him a sort of a land-holder on the spot, and one who had nothing to pay for ten years to come.

Satanstoe |James Fenimore Cooper
And one time he appeared in the shape of a land-holder to two men, Ribh and Eocho, that were looking for a place to settle in.

Gods and Fighting Men |Lady I. A. Gregory
If he was a land-holder, if all his children were Catholics, he was obliged to divide the land equally between them.

The Glories of Ireland |Edited by Joseph Dunn and P.J. Lennox
After a few years of hard, labor and strict economy a land-holder was indebted to Daymon the sum of one hundred and fifty dollars.

Pen Pictures |B. F. Craig

Subsequently it was used in England to denote a land-holder who was of free but not of noble birth.

Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 11, Slice 1 "Franciscans" to "French Language" |Various

land-holder

a person who owns or occupies land

land-holding, adjective, noun