chattel

noun

chat·​tel ˈcha-tᵊl 

plural chattels

1

: an item of tangible movable or immovable property except real estate and things (such as buildings) connected with real property

These statutes do not apply to personal property; for chattels, an oral statement of donative intent plus delivery still suffices.

—William M. McGovern, Jr. et al.

—sometimes used as a mass noun

The program takes advantage of a New Hampshire law that requires all manufactured homes … to be titled as real property instead of chattel, said Patrick McCarthy, Fannie Mae vice president for community lending.

—Brad Finkelstein

2

: an enslaved person held as the legal property of another : bondman

He had struck down my personality, had subjected me to his will, made property of my body and soul, reduced me to a chattel …

—Frederick Douglass

Some, most notably the Quakers, hoped that moral suasion would convince slaveholders to free their chattels.

—Mary Beth Norton et al.

—often used as a mass noun

… [George] Washington is tainted by our country's original sin: slavery. He owned other human beings as chattel.

—Robert Schlesinger

Ultimately, the book illuminates both the tragedy of holding human chattel and the corruption that flows from such inhumanity.

—Melba Newsome

see also chattel slavery

Synonyms

• bondman
• bondsman
• slave
• thrall

Examples of chattel in a Sentence

an amendment to end the keeping of humans as chattel

packed up all her chattels and moved to a new state

Recent Examples on the Web

In many jurisdictions, the appeal of collecting is further enhanced through tax advantage, with sales exempt from capital gains thanks to wine’s classification as a wasting chattel. —Paul Caputo, Forbes.com, 17 June 2025

There is no question, the enslaved workers at the Nottoway Plantation during the antebellum era were human chattel. —Maurice Carlos Ruffin, Time, 21 May 2025

Khartoum was founded as a slave market, in 1821, and Arabs continued to raid southern areas, including the Nuba Mountains, for human chattel long after the practice was outlawed, in 1924. —Nicolas Niarchos, New Yorker, 19 May 2025

Enslavers often viewed them as mere chattel and not worth the expense and effort of commissioning a painting. —Kate McMahon, The Conversation, 3 Feb. 2025

Word History

Etymology

Middle English chatel "movable possession," often in plural chateles, chateus, borrowed from Anglo-French chatel "property, goods, wealth" (also continental Old French), going back to Medieval Latin capitāle "movable property, riches," noun derivative from neuter of capitālis "of the head, chief, principal" — more at capital entry 1

Note: Compare cattle, and see also note at the etymology of capital entry 2.

First Known Use

1549, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Phrases Containing chattel

• chattel slavery

Rhymes for chattel

• battel
• battle
• brattle
• cattle
• prattle
• rattle
• tattle
• striatal

Kids Definition

chattel

noun

chat·​tel ˈchat-ᵊl 

1

: a piece of property (as animals, money, or goods) other than real estate

2

: an enslaved person held as the legal property of another

Legal Definition

chattel

noun

chat·​tel ˈchat-ᵊl 

: an item of tangible or intangible personal property

especially : chattel personal in this entry

Note: In some jurisdictions the term chattel is restricted to items of tangible and movable personal property. Other jurisdictions also classify intangible assets and property items as chattels.

— chattel personal plural chattels personal

: an item of tangible movable personal property (as livestock or an automobile) that is not permanently connected with real estate

— chattel real plural chattels real

: an interest (as a leasehold or profit a prendre) in an item of immovable property (as land or a building) that is less than a freehold estate compare fixture

Note: Interests that are considered chattels real have been treated by the common law as personal property despite being interests in real property.

Etymology

Old French chatel goods, property, from Medieval Latin capitale, from neuter of capitalis chief, principal see capital