Moiety
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
One-half; but generally spoken of an undivided half. Two joint tenants are said to take by moieties; that is, each is entitled to half. The duty laws of Congress have sometimes provided that, on a successful prosecution for smuggling, one-half the penalty or forfeiture should be divided among the informers and officers through whose efforts the whole was secured; and these perquisites have been called informer's moieties.