Dictionary of Terms and Phrases Used in American or English Jurisprudence

Acts of parliament are generally designated by the year of the reign in which they were enacted, rather than by the year of our Lord. The following table is a convenient aid in det

In old English law, the offence (no longer considered one) of buying or getting into one's hands at a fair or market any provisions, corn, or other dead victual, with the intention

General rules. The rules issued from time to time by the authority of the English judges for the regulation of procedure in the court. The term corresponds to the expression, rules

According to rule. And this may be in two senses: that of according to rule, in distinction from contrai-y to or regardless of rule, in which sense it is opposed to ii Tegular; and

The power to regulate ferries, conferred upon the common council of a city, was held not to include the power to prohibit them without a license being first obtained for them. Duck

The phrase, regulations of a department, in acts of congress, should be understood as meaning general rules relating to the subject upon which a department acts, made by the head o

A second hearing; repetition of the judicial consideration of a cause. Hearing is applied to the consideration by an equity judge of the merits of the cause; to the consideration b

In the absence of any stipulations to the contrary, the primary meaning, to pay back, must be imputed to the word reimburse in a contract. Phila^ delphia Trust, &c. Ins. Co. v. Aud

Signifies insurance effected by an underwriter (or insurance company) upon the risk he has assumed by the policy he has made. Reinsurance does not mean merely insurance again; and

The name, in common-law pleading, of the answer made by defendant to the plaintiff's replica^ tion. It is, therefore, the fourth in order of the pleadings which may be interposed i

Signifies rejoining without a notice from the opposite party to do so. Before the common-law procedure act, 1852, if a defendant delayed his rejoinder, the plaintiff might apply fo

1. A connection or tie between two subjects; the bearing or effect of one thing upon another; the association or union of two persons for some purpose of domestic life, or in some

See Relation. Under a bequest to " relatives," the next of kin, according to the statute of distributions, are entitled to take, there being nothing in the will to the contrary. Dr

One who gives information. Technically, the person upon information or complaint from whom the proceeding known as information (17. v.) or the writ of quo warranto is instituted, a

Is both verb and noun. It may be, and often is, used in the general sense of discharge or surrender. Thus, when it is said that acts of a creditor are an implied release, or that a

Having abandoned his plea. The name of a species of confession of judgment made by a defendant after pleading, by withdrawing or abandoning his plea.

1. In the practice of courts, relief is the general term for the advantage, benefit, or help which a complainant asks from the tribunal; the judicial enforcement of a right or redr

As used in Ohio Const, art. 1, § 7, declaring " religion, morality, and knowledge " to be essential to good government, means the religion of mankind, and not the religion of any c

An estate limited to take effect and be enjoyed after another estate is determined. Thus, if an owner of lands in fee-simple grants them to A for twenty years, and after the determ

1. The recommittal of an accused person to prison, or his readmission to bail, on the adjournment of the hearing of a criminal charge in a police court. It is used as verb and noun

It remains. This word is used in a substantive sense, in English practice, signifying an adjourned cause. When a cause entered for trial cannot be tried during the term, and is pos

Were three officers or clerks of the exchequer, who were formerly called clerks of the remembrance. One was called the king's remembrancer; the second, the lord-treasurer's remembr

To return; to surrender. It is nearly interchangeable with the verb release; and the two words, remise and release, are often conjoined in conveyancing.

See Remit.

Implies that the act involved was performed, but was done in a tardy, negligent, or careless manner. The word is not applicable to entire omission or default. See Baldwin V. United

and REMISSION. Are applicable, vrithout involving departure from the vernacular meaning, to the release of a debt, the discharge of a penalty, and the pardon of an offence. Remit a

A term in real-property law for a fiction or theory whereby one who has the right of entry in lands, but is out of possession, and who obtains possession of the lands under sopae s

It is sent back; it is remitted. The word is used as an English substantive in two senses. 1. A remittitur of record is the sending back of a record or transcript from a superior t

As used in Stat. 1785, eh. 75, § 4, respecting vacancies in town offices, means a removal from the town. Inhabitants of Barre v. Inhabitants of Greenwich, 1 Pick. 129. A statute al

A marshal is not to be deemed " removed from office " by the appointment of a successor, until he has received actual notice of the new appointment. Bowerbank v. Morris, Wcdl. C. C

To give up; to yield; to surrender. Also, to paj' or perform; as to render homage or rent. There are certain things in a manor which lie in prender, that is, which may be taken by

Substitution of a new obligation or right, of the same nature, for an old one. Thus the renewal of alease is giving a lease embodying substantially the same terms and conditions, t

To give up, explicitly; to disavow a right or privilege; to disclaim. Renunciation: declaring that one will not assume an office, privilege, or right; disclaimer. Renounce is narro

n. The periodical compensation or pecuniary return made by a tenant to his landlord, for the enjoyment of the property held. In modern times, rent is generally reserved in money; b

A statute directing repair of sewers includes keeping a sewer large * enough to carry ofE all the water naturally entitled to flow into it. Blood v. Bangor, 66 Me. 154. A covenant

V. To abrogate or revoke an enactment by the direction or effect of another. Repeal, n.: an abrogation or revocation of one enactment by another. Express repeal takes place where t

To plead anew. Repleader: an order of court, directing that parties shall interpose new pleadings. The expressions and the practice on the subject are more appropriate to the forme

The name of one of the common-law actions, the distinguishing features of which are that it is brought to obtain possession of specific chattel property, and is prosecuted by a pro

The pleading interposed by plaintiff in an action at law in response to defendant's plea; or. by complainant in equity, in response to defendant's answer. The con-esponding pleadin

1. Generally, reply is appropriate to a response to an answer. In respect to correspondence, it is accurate to speak of a letter, answer, and reply. 2. In parlance of the courts, t

n. An official or formal statement of facts or proceedings. Report, V.: to make a statement of facts or Mailing a letter, prepaid and properly addressed, to an insurance company, i

1. To represent a person is to stand in his place, to act his part, exercise his right, or take his share. Representation: the standing in the place, acting the part, exercising th

n. A suspension of the execution of a sentence to punishment; a respite from penalty. Reprieve, V.: to grant a suspension of execution. Several grounds are recognized for granting

The taking one thing m satisfaction for another: it is either ordinary, as arresting and taking the goods of merchant-strangers within the realm; or extraordinary, as satisfaction

1. The commonwealth or state; the mass of the people in their collective capacity; as in the expression it concerns the republic that there should be an end of litigation. 2. That

A second making public. Applied particularly to wills, when it signifies the revival, either by re-execution or by a codicil adapted to the purpose, of a will previously revoked.

Inconsistent. Generally used of a clause in a written instrument, statute, &c., inconsistent with some other clause, or with the general object of the instrument. REPUTATION; or RE

In law, is much used in its vernacular sense, and also as substantially equivalent to demand. The two words, request and require, as used in notices to creditors to present claims

A demand in writing, or formal request or requirement. The term is applied to a request preferred by a governor of one state to that of another, for the extradition of a fugitive f

An old English law term, nearly equivalent to our modern word receipt. It applied where any action was brought against a tenant for life or term of years, and the person in remaind

To abrogate, annul, avoid, or cancel a contract; spoken particularly of nullifying a contract by the act of a party. Rescission: the act or step of abrogating or declaring null a c

A resistance against lawful authority; also, the name of an old writ which lay to redress such resistance. As, for instance, the taking back by force goods which have been taken un

The answer of the Roman emperor, when consulted by particular persons on some difficult question: it is equivalent to an edict or decree; a counterpart. Rescue of distress. The tak

The second sealing of a writ by the master, so as to continue it, or to cure it of an u-regularity. Wharton.

!). To keep back; to withhold. Reservation: the act of keeping back or withholding; also, the clause in a conveyance or contract whereby some part of the subject-matter is kept bac

or RESETTER. A Scotch term for receiving or harboring a proscribed person. Reset of theft Receiving stolen goods, or harboring the thief.

also RESIANT. Old ants in a tithing, &c., which were called over by the steward on holding courts-leet. Tomlins,

As applied to decedent estates, means all that property which remains after paying the charges and debts, and satisfying the devises and uary devisee or legatee is a person named i

Residue, q. v.

Relinquishment or surrender, by an officer, representar tive, or trustee, of his authority or trust; or by a beneficed clergyman, of his living; and so in other cases of a personal

To oppose. Resist properly describes an opposition by direct action and quasi forcible means. State V. Welch, 87 Wis. 196. The offence of resisting an officer of the United States

V. To decide; to determine; to bring to a termination. Resolution, also resolve, n.: a formal decision or determination of a question, particularly one made at a public meeting. In

V. To adjourn; to forego; to prolong. Respite, n. -. an adjournment; a delay; a postponement. In its application to sentences of offenders to punishment, respite is equivalent to r

Let him answer. Respondeat ouster. That he answer over. The form of the judgment anciently rendered for the plaintiff upon a plea in abatement, that the defendant answer over; that

Person answering. As the party who appeals against the judgment of an inferior court is termed the appellant, so he who contends against the appeal is the respondent. The word also

Answers of learned men; opinions of those learned in the law. These decisions or opinions of authorized jurisconsults were one of the principal sources of the Roman law, holding a

In a statute requiring awards of municipal contracts to be made " to the lowest responsible bidder," means more than mere pecuniary ability, and imports that the municipal officers

An account is said to be taken with annual or semiannual rests, when, at the end of the items for each year or half-year, the accountant pauses in his entries, and strikes a balanc

A remedy in the civil law corresponding quite closely to in integrum, the meaning being that the parties were restored to the unbroken position which they formerly held. The remedy

1. The restoring of any thing unlawfully taken from another. 2. The name of a writ or order issued in favor of a successful plaintiff in error, to restore to him all that he has lo

Though somewhat less technical than " enjoin," is often used, in equity practice, as equivalent to and interchangeable with that word. Thus an injunction suit is said to be brought

The wo Ms "constraint " and " restraint " are so nearly alike in meaning, that to use restraint instead of constraint in a certificate of a wife's acknowledgment does not vitiate.

An indorsement on a bill of exchange or note is called restrictive when it limits the negotiability of the instrument to a particular person or for a particular purpose; as "pay to

Has a technical use in the following phrases: Resulting trust. At the present day, this term seems used some what vaguely: sometimes as equivalent to implied, as distinguished from

The gratuitous distribution of ardent spirits at a public gamingtable does not constitute the proprietor a retailer of spirituous liquors. United States V. Mickle, 1 Cranch C. ft.

1. The act of employing or engaging an advocate, barrister, attorney, counsel, solicitor, or proctor, to appear and prosecute or defend. The word is also used for the notice served

In its application to bills of exchange, is an ambiguous word. In its ordinary sense, it is used of an indorser who takes up the bill by handing the amount to a transferee, and the

The return of writs. In English practice, the certificate by a sheriff. or other officer, indorsed upon the back of each writ, of what he has done in execution thereof, and deliver

For having a return. The name of a writ in the action of replevin, issued to compel a return of the property in question to the party to whom it is adjudged to belong; the writ of

He withdraws. This word, used as a substantive, is the name of the act by which, in old English practice, a plaintiff might withdraw his suit, — retraxit being the emphatic word us

1. In the practice of courts, to return a writ or process is for the sheriff or other officer to bring it back or send it back to the court, with a certificate of what he has done

A defendant in a civil suit, as distinguished from the plaintiff. See Actor. Also, a person judicially accused of crime; the defendant in a criminal prosecution.

Another form of the word reeve, q. v.

Such land as, having reverted to the king after the death of his thane, who had it for life, was not afterwards granted out to any other person by the king, but remained in charge

Pecuniary means, considered as being received from day to day; income. The word is especially applied to the current income of the state or nation, properly app Uoable to expenses

To set aside; to annul; to vacate. Reversal: applied to an order, judgment, or decree, signifies the formal decision of an appellate court, pronouncing it erroneous, and therefore

In its original meaning, is the coming back or returning of a subject of property (usually lands) to one who formerly granted an estate in it which has terminated. In another aspec

v. To examine a second time; to reconsider or revise; to consider for the purpose of correction. Review, n.: a second consideration; an examination to correct; revision. In a very

To correct upon a second examination, as to revise the statutes, to revise a judgment. Revise, somewhat more strongly than review, imports amending, correcting, rearranging. Both t

To renew; to make operative again. Reviving: spoken of a suit, implies that it has abated, and means taking steps — such as bringing in a new party — to make it again a living suit

A statute, providing that causes of action founded on contract are " revived " by an admission or new promise, does not imply that the new promise must be made after the debt is ba

See Revoke. Revooatur. It is revoked. This term, applied to a judgment, denotes that the judgment is annulled for an error in fact, as distinguished from a reversal for an error in

To annul, cancel, oi: recall one's own act; to reverse what its author. Revocation: the cancellation or extinguishment of an instrument or act by him who made or did it. Some instr

An offence on shipboard, which consists in the endeavor of the crew of a vessel, or any one or more of them, to overthrow the legitimate authority of her commander, with intent to

The king. As the king is the source of authority, honor, and power, in a monarchical during a king's reign, criminal prosecutions, and decisions in criminal cases, and suits on beh

The name generally given to the fictitious defendant in an action of ejectment brought according to the strict foi'ms of the old practice.

In parliamentary and legislative practice, an additional clause prepared and annexed to the bill while in course of passage; one which is or is supposed to be draughted on a small

Nothing. It appears in one Rien en arrere. Nothing in arrear, that is, due. A plea appropriate for traversing a declaration for rent. Rien passa per le fait. Nothing passed by the

A right, in jurisprudence, is an enforceable claim or title to any subject-matter whatever; either to possess and enjoy tangible things, or to do any act, pursue any course, enjoy

According to Hawkins, whose definition has been often quoted and approved, is a tumultuous disturbance of the peace by three or more persons assembling together of their own author