(10-07-2017, 09:46 AM)Koen Gh. wrote: You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view....
Linguistically, "moes" was still known as "food" to 16th century lexicographer Kiliaan, though he noted it as archaic. Of course, the specific legal meaning in the compound moesdeel has survived longer, losing the transparency of the first part as the meaning of "moes" was forgotten. I'm less informed on the situation in German.
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I don't know how relevant this is, but in Scandinavian (also French?), moesdeel refers more specifically to a portion/serving of porridge/puré.
In modern English, porridge refers more specifically to a grainy breakfast (like oatmeal puré), but in Scandinavia, it's a more general term that includes not only the grain porridges, but also fruit porridge (rød grød/röd gröt). I don't know for certain, but I don't think they would interpret moesdeel more broadly to mean "food". Oat-based porridge was especially popular in Saxon times.
If the words are split apart "moes deel", then one gets "must share" or something that is "required to share" (share/portion requirement) which would fit a legal context.