Definition of "life-rent" [life-rent]

• A rent which one is entitled to receive for life, usually for support; a right which entitles a person to use and enjoy property during life, without destroying or wasting it. (noun)

The Century Dictionary (Public Domain)

• "Then I suppose you had no notion, either, that a considerable portion of his wealth will come to your children, you and your wife having a life-rent of the capital."
• "For this he had a plausible pretence; for he told me, there has been a custom in this family, that the laird resigns the estate to the eldest son when he comes of age, reserving to himself only a certain life-rent."
• "Since at least the Romans, there have been attempts to tie land in particular to individuals, through various forms of benifice, life-rent or even outright ownership where transfer is illegal."