Lay
Dictionary of Terms and Phrases Used in American or English Jurisprudence · Benjamin Vaughan Abbott · 1879
Dictionary of Terms and Phrases Used in American or English Jurisprudence
n. A share of the profits of a fishing or whaling voyage, which is, by the usages of those employments, commonly allotted to each officer and seaman, as his compensation, and in lieu of fixed wages. This custom does not create any partnership in the profits of the voyage. The lay is regarded, in admiralty, as in the nature of wages for seamen in the common merchant service, and is governed, as respects forfeiture, by the same rules.
Coffin H. Jenkins, 3 Story, 108.