cottar noun. ['kɒtǝ] Also cotter. LOE.
[from COT noun¹ + -ER¹ (Scot. -ar): cf. medieval Latin cotarius COTTIER. In earliest uses perh. repr. Old French cot
i. er COTTIER.]
1. Feudal History. A villein who held a cot with an attached plot of land in return for working for his lord part of the time. (In early use chiefly in surnames. Not recorded from ME until use as a historical term in 19. Cf. COTSET, COTSETLA.) LOE.

2. In Scotland: a tenant occupying a farm cottage, sometimes with a small plot of land, orig. in return for labouring on the farm as required, now usu. as part of a contract of employment with the farmer. LME.

3. Irish History. = COTTIER noun 2. L18.

[TahlilGaran] English Dictionary ▲