entail An estate tail: the interest in real property created prior to 1926 by a grant to A and the heirs of his body, called a general entail, or to A and the heirs of his body by his wife J, called a special entail. Tail male or tail female were entails where the property descended exclusively to males or females respectively. The owner of the estate tail was called the tenant in tail, who might bar the entail, and convert the estate tail into a fee simple.