A more thorough explanation:

Definition: Fine sur cognizance de droit tantum is a type of fine of conveyance used to convey reversionary interests without acknowledging a prior conveyance of land. It does not require acknowledgment of an earlier livery of seisin. The term means "fine upon acknowledgment of the right merely" in Law French.

Examples: A fine sur cognizance de droit tantum was used to disentail an estate. It was a form of conveyance to determine the true possessor of land. The fine was formerly used as a means of conveying land by compromising a fictitious or actual suit. The parties agreed to the terms of the compromise, which were recorded in the court records. The fine owed its popularity as a means of conveyancing to two factors: the enrolling in the court records provided evidence of the transaction, and the effect of the fine was to set running a short period of limitation at the expiration of which all claims to the land were barred.

Explanation: The examples illustrate how a fine sur cognizance de droit tantum was used historically to convey reversionary interests without acknowledging a prior conveyance of land. It was a form of conveyance used to disentail an estate and determine the true possessor of land. The parties agreed to the terms of the compromise, which were recorded in the court records, providing evidence of the transaction. The effect of the fine was to set running a short period of limitation at the expiration of which all claims to the land were barred.