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).
In a nineteenth-century urban context this was the space in front of a basement dwelling, accessible by a flight of steps and with iron railings at pavement level.
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.