A Dictionary of Law

A term of reproach originally applied to the disability of infancy when pleaded by an adult in bar of recovery upon a contract made while he was under age, but extended to any plea

To indorse, sign: as, to back a process or writ. The warrant of a justice of the peace in one county must be backed, that is, signed, by a justice in another county, before it can

See Mill, 1; Take, 8.

1. When applied to "character," the jury must say whether want of chastity or of honesty was imputed.* The charge of incontinency involved in the words " she is a bad, a loose, cha

1. A mark or device worn by an officer of the peace for purposes of identification and perhaps of notification. On demand, is ordinarily to be shown as evidence of authority to mak

Within a radius of ten miles from a certain village means tvithin ten miles of its 6enter.i

The sack, satchel, reticule or other like receptacle in which lawyers carry briefs and papers for use during the preparation, trial, hearing, or argument of cases, was formerly cal

1. Whatever a passenger takes with him for his personal use or convenience, according to the habits or wants of the particular class to which he belongs, either with reference to t

See Bailment. B AILIFr. 1 Originally, one put in charge of something. An officer concerned in the administration of justice in a certain province.^ 1. A servant, in a superior, min

^ A delivery of goods in trust, upon a contract, expressed or implied, that the trust shall be faithfully executed on the part of the bailee.' A delivery of goods in trust upon a c

2 1. Excess on one side of an account. The conclusion or result of the debit and credit sides of an account. 3 Implies mutual dealings, and the extension of debit and credit.' 3. R

' n. A ball or a ticket used in voting; a paper embodying a vote; also, the whole number of votes cast. v. To decide by voting. 1 Pitts V. Millar, ante, ' L. bilanx, having two sca

2 The seat occupied by the judge* of a court; more particularly, a full bench, when all, or at least a majority, of the judges are present for the decision of questions of law, as

* 1, n. A mutual contract or agreement between two parties, the one to sell goods or lands, and the other to buy them.5 Any mutual undertaking. " Bargain " more prominently, perhap

See Litera, Qui hseret, etc. BAKU". See Arson; Belong; Curtilage. Within the meaning of a statute against arson, the building need not be used for storing provender.* The word may

! i. in maritime law, an act committed by the master or mariners of a ship, for some unlawful or fraudulent purpose, contrary to their duty to the owners, whereby the latter sustai

See Lett; Rent; Trust. 1.

See Bab. 1. > Sp. barateria, deceit, fraud,— 3 Pet. *230. » Marcardier v. Chesapealse Ins. Co., 8 Cranch, 49 (1814), Story, J. s Lawton v. Sun Mut. Ins. Co., 2 Cush. 511-12 (1848),

! A contract by which goods are exchanged for goods. ^ The exchange of one commodity or article of property for another.^ The consideration, instead of being paid in money, as in t

Inferior; of low degree. Base animal. An animal which is unfit for food. See Animal. Base coin. Debased coin.* Base fee. An estate in fee that ends whenever an annexed qualificatio

'" One that is not only begotten, but born, out of lawful matrimony." Such child as is not born either in lawful wedlock, or within a competent time after its determination. !3 One

' Trial by combat or duel. Also called wager of battel, battle, battaile. In the nature of an appeal to Providence, under an apprehension and hope that' Heaven would give the victo

^ The unlawful beating of another. 3 Any unlawful touching of the person of another, either by the aggressor or by any person or thing set in motion by him.< The least touching of

"Accretion," which is the imperceptible augmentation of the soil on the shore of a stream, is called "alluvion" and sometimes "batture." ' A marine term, denoting a bottom of sand,

* One who procures opportunities for persons of opposite sexes to cohabit in an illicit manner.^ Bawdy-house. A house of ill-fame; a house kept for the resort and unlawful con- -ve

See Lights, Ancient, A nut or bay-window which is maintained without authority of law, which encroaches on the public 13 Bl. Com. 121; 4 id. 216; Kirland v. State, 43 Ind. 148-56 (

' An agent employed to make bargains and contracts between other persons in matters of trade, commerce or navigation, for a compensation commonly called brokerage.* Brokerage. The

Commenced. In the legislation of Congress on the subject of limitation of actions, "commenced" and "brought" mean the same thing. * A suit is brought when it is instituted or comme

See Cruelty; Whipping-post.

He who bears or carries a thing; he who presents for payment a bill, check, or note, transferable by delivery. A note payable to "A or bearer" is negotiable without indorsement, an

The land, between the lines of high and low water, over which the tide ebbs and flows; synonymous with shore, strand, flat. A deed of land described as bounded "on the beach" does

See Date; Interest, 2 (3).

"In the rear of" a messuage does not necessarily mean directly behind the messuage.^

See Date; Interest, 2(3).

See Animal. Beasts of the plow. An ancient expression referring to animals employed in the ordinary uses of husbandry, or other actual labor in a lawful and useful industry.! See D

In law, not merely to whip, wound, or hurt; includes any unlawful imposition of the hand or arm. 2 To commit a battery,' q. v.

One who receives anything belonging to another or others. 1. One who receives stolen goods. See further Steaj,. 3. A person appointed by a court of equity to take charge of propert

4 A going back; resort. ■Without recourse. By the use of these words the holder of negotiable paper may transfer title without incurring the responsibility of an indorser.5 See Ind

1. The right of connubial intercourse; cohabitation, q. v. Whence bed and board. See Divorce. 2. The bed of a river is that soil so usually covered by water as to be distinguishabl

See Liquor; Prohibition, 3.

See After; Ante; Coram; On. Before the twenty-eighth of a month means by the twenty-seventh, at least.^ Before a given day excludes that day.' Before the court. When a matter, by r

See Interest, 3 (1). A witness called by a party testifies " in his behalf " though he testifies against his interest. ^

Manner of having, holding, or keeping one's self; personal carriage and demeanor; bearing, with respect to propriety, morals, and the requirements of law. Disorderly behavior. See

' 1. In feudal law, a fine or composition paid to the lord of a fee for taking up an estate which had lapsed or fallen by the death of the last tenant. It •' raised up " and re-est

See Wab.

In statutes referring to inhabitancy, the poor, etc., designates the place of a person's legal settlement, not merely his place of residence. 5 Belonging to. In the Pennsylvania st

Compare Above; Infba.

Redress, relief, remedy; reparation. Ubi jus, itai remedium. Where there is a right, there is a remedy. For every legal right the law provides a remedy.* See Damnum, Absque, etc.

The judge's seat in a court. Also, the judges themselves as a tribunal or a professional class: as, the common or common pleas bench, the supreme bench, a full or partial bench. Co

A gratuitous donation, as, an estate by feudal tenure; also, an eoclesi- 1 See 3 Bl. Com. 41; 4 id. 365. » Holthouse's Law Diet. astical living or church preferment given or held f

One who is entitled to, the benefit of a contract or of an estate held by another. The word, though a little remote from the original meaning of the expression " cestui que trust,^

Good, advantage; fruit, profit, use; aid. As, in the expressions, assignment for the benefit of creditors, common or mutual benefit, benefit of a doubt, of clergy, of copyright, of

To depress or bear down with haughty, stern looks, or with arrogant speechijand dogmatic assertions; to bear down by impudence: as, to browbeat a witness.' Compare Badger. See Exam

A gift of personal property by will. Bequest. A gift of personalty by will; the clause in the instrument making the gift; the thing itself so given. When the context requires it "

2 Cutting off; abrogating, canceling, annulling, nullifying, vacating, avoiding. Bescind. To annul a thing done; to vacate, set aside. Eescissory.3 Designed to abrogate, annul, av.

See Like; Quasi; Similitude. RESERVATIOIf; RESERVE.* Reserve: to keep or hold back, withhold, as one thing or right out of another — the subject-matter; also, the thing withheld. R

See Sodomy.

3 A wager, — the act or the amount. "Bet" and "wager" are synonymous * terms, applied to the contract of betting and ■wagering and to the thing or sum bet or w^agered. They may be

Return, q. v. Betorno habendo. For return had; to have a return. A judgment awarding a defendant in replevin the possession and property of the goods or articles; a judgment de ret

1. An improvement -^ to realty which is more extensive than ordinaiy repair, and increases, in a substantial degree, the value of the property; meliora- / tion. ' Betterment Acts.

Often synonymous with "among," especially when employed to convey the idea of division or separate ownership of property held in common.' It is as appropriate to say that property

See Sea. BI. The Latin prefix, put for dui, twice, or from bis, twice, two.

Inclination of mind toward a particular object; an influential power which sways the judgment.^ In a juror, being under an influence which so sways his mind to one side as to preve

Held to be a "carriage," within a statute forbidding fast driving. m Not a "carriage" liable to toll, imder the English Turnpike Act of 1883." A tricycle capable of being propelled

In its most comprehensive sense, to make an offer; in its more ordinary acceptation, to make an offer at an auction; ' the offer itself. Also, the price at which a contractor will

2 The offense of having two husbands or wives at the same time, the one dejure and the other defacto.^ Strictly speaking, bigamy means "twice married," as its derivation shows. Thi

6 A concise statement; an epitome; an abridgment. Sometimes used in a verbal sense, to reduce to the form of a brief, etc. See State, 1. Brief of title. An abstract of the deeds, j

Designates a contract executory on both sides, as, a sale. Unilateral. When one party makes no express agreement, but his obligation is left to implication of law, as, a guaranty.

A statement of particulars, in writing, and more or less formal in arrangement. Distinctive qualifying terms are frequently omitted, the relation or context indicating the sense. T

A bill: an original b Ul at law, or a bill of indictment. Billa cassetur. That the bill be quashed. A judgment, at common law, for defendant, on a plea in abatement. ' See Quash. B

Every bill in equity may be deemed such, since it seeks a disclosure from the defendant, on oath, of the truth of the circumstances constituting the plaintiff's case as propounded

8; Conspiracy; Strike, 2.

See Part, 1.

See Abandon, 2 (3); Natus; Venter.

SeeBL

See Year.

A person who gets his living by frequenting race-courses and places where games of chance are played, getting thp best odds and giving the least he can, but not necessarily by chea

See Boycotting. An act of Wisconsin, approved April 8, 1887 (Laws, ch. 349), provides that: Any two or more employees who shall agree, combine, and confederate together for the pur

See Citizen; School, Separate; White.

See Police, 2. Is not a nuisance per se. The business may be so carried on as not to annoy persons living in the vicinity. ' See Nuisance.

Sir William. Born July 10, 1723. In 1736 he entered Pembroke College, Oxford, where he continued till 1741, when he began to study law. In 1746, at the end of the probationary peri

* 1, adj. (1) Of a white color: lacking something essential to completeness; not filled in or filled up with a word or •words — names, amount, time, place, description, conditions,

io Denying the being or providence of the Almighty, or contumelious reproaching of Christ; also, profane scoffing at the holy scripture, or exposing it to contempt and ridicule.ii

See Reading. A blind man may make a contract or a will. The handwriting of an attesting witness who has become blind may be proved as if he were dead — he being first produced and

TJ^e ii;i Vestment of a seaport by a competent naval force, with a view of cutting off all coramunioation of comnjerce.i Every nation, of common right, as a municipal regulation, m

1. Relationship; stock; family; consanguinity. To be "of the blood" of a person means 1 1 Kent, 146-47. s United States v. The William Arthur, 3 Ware, 280-81 (1861). = Prize Cases,

(1691). It meant use of horses, carriage, payment for carriage; hence, payment proportional — to horses employed, goods lost at sea, etc.,— which all who are concerned in the ship,

See Alle- Gare, Allegans contraria, etc.

See Vessel.

Compare Corpus. 1. The physical person. The natural body or such as is formed by the laws of God, as distinguished from an artificial body or such as is devised by human laws. In a

While often used in the sense of obtaining a thing to be returned in specie, is not limited to that sense. There may be a borrowing where an equivalent is paid annually in the form

1. Lat. Good. Bona fldes. Good faith. See Fides. Boni judieis. See Judex, 3, Boni, etc. 2. Eng. (1) Not a gift or gratuity, but a sum paid for services, or upon a consideration in

Any literary composition which is printed, or printed and bound into a volume. 1. In copyright law, the form of the publication is not material — the term may include a single shee

■ United States v. Hemmer, 4 M»s. 107 (1835), Story, J.; United States v. HaskeU, 4 Wash. 405 (1833 1; ib. 539. 2 United States v. Hames, 5 Mas. 377 (1839J, Story, J. s United Stat

See Child; Natds.

1. A town, whether corporate or not, that sends burgesses to par Uament.' 3. A town or city organized for purposes of government.' In the United States, not extensively used with a

8 Compensation, recompense; satisfaction, amends. Synonymous with French estovers, q. v. Housebote: sufficient wood from another's land to repair, or to be burnt in, one's house; w

See Leakage; Seal, 5. A demijohn holding four gallons is not a " bottle " within the meaning of a statute requiring Imported liquors to be put up in packages of not less than one d

A contract in the nature of a mortgage on a ship: when the owner ' borrows money to enable him to carry on his voyage, and pledges the keel or bottom of the ship as security for th

Originally, a bulwark or rampart; afterward, a public walk or road on the side of a demolished fortificacion; now, a public drive. Not, technically, a street, avenue, or highway, t