chattel

This term is primarily used in legal and historical contexts to distinguish movable personal property from real estate (land and buildings). In modern legal parlance, it is often replaced by the term personal property, though chattel remains common in specific areas of law, such as chattel mortgages.

When applied to people, the word carries a heavy, dehumanizing connotation. It refers specifically to the system of chattel slavery, where a human being is legally treated as a piece of property to be bought, sold, and owned, rather than as a person with rights.