Presents
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
A word in a deed signifying the deed itself, which is expressed by the phrase " these presents." It is especially used in a deed-poll, which immediately from the Latin prcesentes, which was used with literm, as formal words of description in the old conveyances. Omnibus ad quos prsesentes literae pervenerint, saluiem, — to all to whom the present letters shall come, greeting. The word literce was sometimes suppressed; thus, paleat unioersis per prsesentes. This led to the use of prcesentes as a substantive, and ultimately to the English word presents, in its plural form: "know all men by these presents."