A Dictionary of Law

5 1. To shorten, condense; to epitomize, reduce, contract. A reasonable abridgment of a copyrighted publication is permitted as a new production, involving in its preparation intel

i Not governed by fixed rules; not defined by statute; discretionary: as, arbitrary punishment. See Discretion; Judge. Without cause or reason shown; as, an arbitrary challenge.^ A

A judge may, without proof, determine the meaning of the customary abbreviations of Christian names,^ names of offices,' names of places,^ and common words. 9 See Ambiguity; Name,

2 Taking away a wife, child, or ward, by fraud and persuasion, or open violence. 3 In private or civil law, the act of taking away a man's wife by violence or persuasion.* In crimi

^ In expectation, remembrance, and contemplation of law; in sus- \ pense.3 Subsisting in contemplation of law.* In abeyance: undetermined. Said of a fee or a freehold when there is

To await; as, in saying that costs abide the event of the suit. Abide by. To conform to, obey. " To abide by an award " is to stand by the determination of the arbitrators, and tak

See Capacity; Disability; Pecuniary; Rehabilitate; Responsible.

The place where a person dwells. Prescribed as the criterion of the residence required to constitute a legal voter, nothing more than a domicil, a house, which the party is at libe

1. Carrying weapons concealed "about" the person means: near, in close proximity, within convenient control and easy reach. 9 2. In close proximity to; closely approximating. An ag

Upper, higher; superior. "Above all iucmnbrances " means in excess of such incumbrances.* Court above. The court to which a cause is removed. Defendant above. The party who is defe

In English chancery law, beyond the seas. See Deposition; Sea.

Being away: away, not present; not at one's domicil or usual place of business; out of the jurisdiction. Compare Presence. Absentee. A person who has resided ia the State and has d

* Exclusive; without condition or incumbrance; complete; perfect; final; opposed to conditional, qualified, relative: as. Absolute or an absolute — acceptance, alienation, allegian

Without; except. Absque hoe. Without this. Absque tali causa. Without such cause. Technical words of denial at common law. The former introduces the negative part of a special trav

* 1, v. To take or withdraw from; to remove or take away. Under § 5209, Rev. St., an officer of a national bank may be guilty of " abstracting " funds, money, and credits, without

3 1. An improper use; a custom or practice contrary to the intendment of law or to good morals. Common expressions are: the abuse of authority, of discretion, of a thing bailed, of

To touch or meet. Compare Adjoining. Abutment. The part of a bridge which touches the land. See Bridge. Abuttal. The point at which tracts of land meet; the butting or bounding of

See Abode; Cadet; College, 2; School, Public. > Burrill's Law Diet.; Warvelle, Abstr. Title, § 2. 2 Banker ti. Caldwell, 3 Minn. 101 (1859); 7 W. Va. 413. * L. ab, amiss; uti, to u

To shorten the period after which an interest or estate is to vest in possession or enjoyment.

! A receiving — with approval, or conformably to the purpose of a tejider or offer; receiving with intention to retain. Whence acceptor, non-acceptance. A person is said to accept

2 Going to or with: approach, intercourse, or opportunity therefor. Opposed, non-access. In a special sense, refers to sexual intercourse between a husband and wife, and imports it

s He who is not the chief actor in an offense, nor present at its pei"formance, but is in some way concerned therein, either before or after the fact committed.* If a person does n

L. Increase; accession, q. v. Accessio cedit priucipali. Increase goes with the principal. Any addition belongs to the owner of the principal object. See Accessorium. ACCESSION". A

An accessory^ thing; the incident. Accessorium seqiiittir principale, or prineipalem, or naturam sui principalis. The accessory follows the principal thing, or the principal, or th

!! 1. Accompanying; incidental; subservient; appurtenant: as, an accessory contract or obligation, gg. v. 2. "Whatever is connected as an incident or subordinate thing to another a

To fall upon: to come to, arrive at; to come to hand; to fall out, come to pass, happen. Quando aeciderint. When they (assets) come to hand. Where an executor or an administrator p

A loan for use without pay, the thing to be restored in specie. A species of bailment, g. v. The same as commodatum* ACCOMPIiICE.5 One who is in some way concerned in the commissio

2 Agi-eement; satisfaction. A satisfaction agreed upon between the party injuring and the party injured.' An agi-eement, in the case of a contract, where the creditor agrees to acc

To grow to, come by increase, add to: to accrue, attach. See Actio, Non accrevit; Jus, Accrescendi.

Amodeof acquu-ingtitle to realty, where portions of the soil are added by gradual deposit, through the operation of natural causes, to that already in possession of the owner. 1 Se

3 To attempt, or assume, to exercise royal power.*

5 1. To be or become added to; to fall due. Accrued. Due and payable. Accrxiiilg. Falling due; becoming but not yet due. As, accrued or accruing — dividend. Interest, pension, rent

To lay to one's charge; to accuse, q. v. Acousare nemo se debet. No one is obliged to accuse himself. Nemo tenetur seipsum accusare. No one is bound to accuse himself. Nemo tenetur

To charge with violation of law; specifically, to charge with criminal misconduct. See Ac(JUSARE. Accusation. A charge that one has committed a misdemeanor or crime; also, the act

See Custom; Habit. Where a deed conveyed a water privilege with the power and appurtenances as they then existed, and with the right to rebuild a dam, and to pass and repass in the

Owning to; avowal, admission. 1. A statement by a debtor that a claim, barred by the statute of limitations, is still a valid obligation. Takes the case out of the statute, and rev

See Pckchase, 3.

3 A keeping quiet: consent inferred from silence or from failure to object, the person to be charged having knowledge of the essential facts. Tacit encouragement to an act done; as

To obtain, procure: as, to acquire property, a domicil. Compare Hold, 6. Acquired. In the law of descent, includes lands that come to a person in any other way than by gift, devise

Exonerated, acquitted, cleared. Autrefois acquit. Formerly acquitted. Opposed, autrefois convict. A plea in bar, that the accused has already been cleared of the charge.5 See Acqui

Setting free; deliverance from a charge or suspicion of guilt; the act or action of a jury in finding that a person accused of a crime is not guilty., Acquitted. " Set free or judi

A written discharge from the performance of a duty; also, the writing itself. Includes a common receipt for money paid. A receipt for damages may operate as an acquittance, when no

Formerly, in discussing the law of real estate, for brevity, " black acre " and ^' white acre" were used to distinguish parcels. See Estimate; More or Less.

» N. Y. Act 1885, ch. 490, § 2. ' Scarborough v. Smith, 18 Kan. 406 (1877), Valentine, Judge. » Boberts v. Donovan, 70 Cal. 113 (1886): Xenia Branch Bank v. Lee, 7 Abb. Pr. 380 (18

Performing; serving; attending to the duties of an office; as, the acting — executor, partner, commissioner of patents, reporter of decisions. Attached to an officer's title, desig

A doing, performing: an action, or right of action. Actio non accrevit infra sex annos. The action has not accrued within six yeai-s: the right of action has not arisen, etc. The L

1. Produced by exertion; resulting from intentional action; opposed to passive: as, active — deceit, waste, qq. v. 2. Requiring intelligent direction, personal exertion; opposed to

1. Lat. A doer; a plaintiff. See Caveat, Actor. Actor sequitur forum rei. The plainti£E follows the forum of the thing — the thing in suit, or the residence of the defendant.! Pers

s 1. Under a statute allowing a mechanic's lien upon an "addition to a former building," the new structure must be a lateral addition. It must occupy ■ 2 Bl. Com. 123 9 Ga. 400; Br

A horizontal entry to a mine. A statute which provides that "an adit at least ten feet in, along the lode, from the point of discovery, shall be equivalent to a discovery shaft," c

3 Near, but not touching. Applied to lots, is synonymous with " contiguous." In another relation it might have a more extended meaning.* See Adjoining; Contiguous; Vicinity. Certai

' Touching or contiguous, as distinguished from lying near or adjacent; in contact with.s In popular use seems to have no fixed meaning. Frequently expresses nearness. ^ What is "

To decide judicially; to adjudicate; sometimes, to declare or deem, but not implying any judgment of a judicial tribunal. As in a statute declaring that "all lotteries are hereby a

To determine in the exercise of judicial power; to pronounce judgment in a case. Adjudicated. Judicially determined: as, an adjudicated — case, bankrupt. Adjudication. Determinatio

Decided, settled, adjudged, adjudicated, q. v. Res adjudicata, or res judicata. A thing adjudicated; a case decided; a matter settled. Plural, res adjudicatce or judioatce. 1 Cromw

!" To determine what is due; to settle; to ascertain: as, to adjust a claim, a demand, a right. Adjuster. He who determines the amount of a claim; as, a claim against an insurance

Ascertainment; apportionment. A writ which lay against one who usurped more than his share; as, of pasture, dower or other right."

' Supporting; aiding; strengthening. Describes testimony adduced to explain or complete other testimony.'

To wait upon, serve; to dispose of, administer. Plene administravit. He has fully administered. Plene administravit prseter. He has fully administered except —. The emphatic words

A court exercising jarisdiction over controversies arising out of the navigation of public waters; also, the system of jurisprudence which pertains to such controversies. So named

' 1. Receiving: reception. Whence admit, admissible, inadmissible, nonadmission. Used of assenting to, allowing, or receiving— a claim, a will to probate, any other writing, or tes

See Accession; Confusion, Of goods.

i A judicial reprimand to an accused person about to be discharged. Whence admonitory.

2 To choose: take, receive, accept. Whence adoption. 1. To make as one's own what formerly was not so; to appropriate: as, to adopt a symbol or design for a trade-mark, q, v. 2. To

See Versus.

To mix with food, drink, or drugs, intended for sale, other matter inferior in quality, and, perhaps, deleterious in character. In some States no recovery can be had for a sale of

* Criminal intercourse between a married person and one of the opposite sex whether married or single. * Sexual connection between a married woman and an unmarried man or a married

5 1. To move forwai-d on a list or calendar of causes, for early consideration: as, to advance a cause — whence advanced cause. 3. To supply beforehand; to loan before work is done

See Benefit; Commoddm; Interest, 1.

io 1. An enterprise of hazard. 1 Lawrence v. Tucker, 33 How. 27 (1859), cases; Jones V. Guaranty, &c. Co., 101 U. S. 636 (1879); Nat. Bank of Genesee v. Whitney, 103 id. 99 (1880).

See Adverse, 2.

^ 1. Acting against or in a contrary direction; opposed to; conflicting with, contrary to, the interest of another. In some senses, opposed to amicable. As, an adverse — claim, con

See A, 3; Versus.

* Information given by hand-bill or newspaper. See Letter, 8; Reward, 1. Ofllcial advertisement. Such as is made by some public authority and in pursuance of law. Advertisement in

Counsel, opinion; information given, or, perhaps, consultation had, as to action or conduct. Compare Advise; Inops Consilii. See Influence. As per advice. On a bill of exchange, de

Where a statute authorizes a trial judge to "advise " the jury to acquit an accused person, a request by counsel that the 1 Moores v. Louisville Underwritera, 14 F. E. 233 (188 J),

See Judge-Advocate. An assistant; an associate in conducting a lawsuit. A person who makes a profession of presenting cases orally. "Of advocates, or (as we more generally call the

*' Taking into protection. The right of presentation to a church or ecclesiastical benefice. Advowsons are (were) appendant, or in gross; and presentative, co Uative, or donative.^

2 A person twenty-one or more years of age. Where an assault becomes " aggravated, when committed by an adult male on a female or a child, or by an adult female on a child," " adul

* To call upon to account or answer.' To call a prisoner to the bar of the court to answer the matter charged upon him Jn the indictment. 8 Arraignmeiit. The act or proceeding of a

See Accbetion. ^S. L. Money. ^s alienum. Another's money. Ma suum. One's own money. The principle of bankrupt and insolvent laws is fairly expressed by the phrase "ces alienum" whi

Things done or to be done; business interests. A word of large import. A receiver who has the management of the "affairs of tt railroad com- ' People V. Horn. 70 Cal. 18 (1886); Ca

Toact upon; to concern: as, cases affecting public ministers. Often used in the sense of acting injuriously upon a person or thing; as in a proviso that an act shall not affect any

See Consideration, 2.

^ A voluntary oath, before some judge or oi Bcer of a court, to evince the truth of certain facts; as, the facts upon which a motion is grounded.'' Afflant. One who makes an affida

See Filiation. ArFINITAS. L. Nearness; affinity. AfiB.uitas afllnitatis. The tie between ' the respective kindred of a married couple. Afflnes. Kelations by marriage.

Relation by marriage. See Affinitas. The tie which arises from marriage between the husband and the blood relations of the wife, and between the wife and the blood relations of the

* 1. To aver a thing as established or certain, or as existing, or as provable as a fact. Whence affirmative, affirmation. Afl&rmative (1), adj. Asserting as true; declaratory of w

See Fixture; Seal, 1.

See Freight.

See Citizen; Color, 1; Slavery.

Further off, behind: subsequent to a date or event; exclusive of; subject to. Where time is to be computed "after" a day that day is excluded.* • In the devise to A, " after " prov

A period in life at which a person may do an act which, before that time, he could not do; "of age." The period at which one attains full personal rights and capacity. The time of

! Whatever adds to e weight of an act — in its consequences or lilt. Opposed, mitigation. Something done by the defendant, on e occasion of committing the trespass, hicli to some e

See Corporation, Ag- •egate. AGGREGATIO MENTIirM. L. Colction of purjioses; collected intentions; jreement. Essential to a contract; where there is a misundermding, wanting.^ Not t

' Damaged, injured, ex- )sed to loss: as, that the party aggrieved ay appeal or have a writ of error. The " party aggrieved " is he against whom 1 appealable order or judgment has

Originally, to feed cattle in the king's forest: a service performed for a consideration by officers called "agisters" or "gist-takers." Now, to pasture animals for pay. Agistment.

See Natus, Agnati.

8 To concur in thought; to unite in mental action, be of oije mind, assent. Opposed, disagree. May be read "grant;" as where a grantor agrees that no building shall be erected on a

A person engaged in agriculture is engaged in raising cereals and stock. "Agriculture," in its general sense, is the cultivation of the ground for the purpose of procuring vegetabl