In the manorial system this was a payment imposed on an offender by his peers, after which he stood at the mercy of the lord: it differed from a fine in that it was imposed at the discretion of the court (TWH26/7n).
Small sums of money, paid over to secure a bargain, especially on the hiring of labourers or the purchase of hay or animals, so the word overlapped in meaning with ‘earnest money’ or ‘festing penny’.
A maker of iron arrow-heads, like ‘arrowsmith’. The shaft and the head of an arrow were made by different workmen, and the heads were the responsibility of a specialist smith.
To assess, often abbreviated to ‘sess’, was to settle or determine the amount of tax payable by a community or an individual; to value property subject to a tax.
This unusual term is entered in the OED under the headword ‘arsedine’. It was a gold-coloured alloy of copper and zinc, rolled into very thin leaf and used to ornament cutlery wares.