All that stuff in your room? The books, posters, dirty sneakers and all of your other personal belongings? That's what we call chattel.

Chattel refers to personal items, as opposed to actual land property. It was once used to describe slaves and cattle, which is why referring to something or someone as chattel isn't very nice — you're essentially saying they're just property, somehow less than human. Despite the fact that chattel is an outdated word these days, it's probably still safe to call your bottle cap collection worthless chattel.

Definitions of chattel


movable, personal chattel
Type of:
personal estate, personal property, personalty, private property
movable property (as distinguished from real estate)

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