A Dictionary of Law
1st edition, 1891 — browse every term in this dictionary, A–Z.
Showing the 1,112 terms defined in A Dictionary of Law. Browse all dictionaries
DEMY SANGUE. Half-blood. A corruption of demi-sang.
A valley. Blount. A hollow place among woods. Cowell.
In old English law. Liberty for ships or vessels to run aground, or come ashore. Cowell,
Inold Englishlaw. <As much land as is worth one penny per anenum.
- Denariidefined inCyclopedic (1922)Ballentine's (1916)Bouvier (1914)Black's (1910)Kinney (1893)Black's (1891)Bouvier (1839)
An ancient general term for any sort of peeunia numerata, or ready money. The French use the word “denier” in the same sense,—payer de ses propres deniers.
In English law. Customary oblations made to a cathedral church at Pentecost. DENARITI §. PETRI. (Commonly called “Peter’s Pence.”) An annual payment on St. Peter’s feast of a penny
- Denariusdefined inBallentine's (1916)Black's (1910)Kinney (1893)Black's (1891)Stimson (1881)Burrill (1850)
The chief silver coin among the Romans, worth 8d.; it was the seventh part of a Roman ounce. Also an English penny. The denarius was first coined five years before the first Punic
In old English law. <A third part or penny of the eounty paid to its earl, the olher two parts being reserved to the crown.
A writ
- Denialdefined inCyclopedic (1922)Ballentine's (1916)Bouvier (1914)Black's (1910)Black's (1891)Anderson (1889)
A traverse in the pleading of one party of an allegation of fact set up by the other; a defense.
Fr. In old English law. Denial; refusal. Denier is when the rent (being demanded upon the land) is not paid. Bineh, Law, b. 3,.¢e. 5. DENIER A DIEU In French law. Tarnest money; a
- Denizationdefined inCyclopedic (1922)Ballentine's (1916)Black's (1910)Kinney (1893)Black's (1891)Burrill (1850)
The act of making one a denizen; the conferring of the privileges of citizenship upon an alien born, Cro. Jac. 540. See Denizun. DENI4AE. To make a man a denizen or citizen,
In French feudal law. A minute or act drawn up, on the ereation of a fief, containing a deseription of the fief, and all the rights and incidents belonging to it. Guyot, Inst. Feud
Fr. Of unsound memory or mind; a phrase synonymous with non compos mentis.
- Denouncementdefined inCyclopedic (1922)Ballentine's (1916)Bouvier (1914)Black's (1910)Black's (1891)Anderson (1889)
In Mexican law. A denouncement was a judicial proceeding, and, though real preperty might be acquired by an alien in fraud of the law,—that is, without observing its requirements,—
In the civil law. A form of interiict or injunction which lies in sume cases where the defendant is about to erect a “new work” (q. ®) in derogation or injury of the plaintiff’s ri
Anew; afresh; a second time. A venire de novo is a writ for summoning a jury for the second trial of a case which has been sent back from above for a new trial. De nullo, quod est
(Otherwise called “burn-beating.”) A method of improving land by casting parings of earth, turf,and stubbuleinto heaps, which when dried are burned into ashes fora compost. Cowell,
The act of present payment.
In Spanish law. The denouncement of a new work; being a proceeding to restrain the erection of some new work, as, for instance, a building which may, if completed, injuriously affe
- Denunciationdefined inU.S. CodeCyclopedic (1922)Ballentine's (1916)Bouvier (1914)Black's (1910)Black's (1891)Bouvier (1839)
In the civil law. The act by which an individual informs a In Scoteh practice. The act by which a person is declared to be a rebel, who has disobeyed the charge given on Jetiers of
- Denuntiatiodefined inCyclopedic (1922)Ballentine's (1916)Bouvier (1914)Black's (1910)Kinney (1893)Black's (1891)Burrill (1850)
In old English law. A public notice or sumroons. Bract. 2026.
- Deodanddefined inCyclopedic (1922)Ballentine's (1916)Black's (1910)Kinney (1893)Black's (1891)Anderson (1889)Stimson (1881)Burrill (1850)Bouvier (1839)
(L. Lat. Deo dandum, a thing to be given to God.} In English law. Any personal chattel which was the immediate occasion of the death of any reasonable erenture,and which was forfei
- De Odio Et Atiadefined inBallentine's (1916)Black's (1910)Black's (1891)Burrill (1850)Bouvier (1839)
A writ directed to the sheriff, commanding him to inquire whether a prisoner charged with murder was eommitted upon just cause of suspicion, or merely propter odium et atiam, (thro
Fr. Of office; in virtuo of office; officially; in the discharge of ordinary duty. DE ONERANDO PRO RATA POR-
In old English law. The hedge inclusing a deer park. “DEPART. In pleading. To forsake or abandon the ground assumed in a former pleading, and assume a new one. See Ds-
Of peace [breach of peace] and robbery. One of the kinds of criminal appeal formerly in use in England, and which lay in eases of rubbery and breach of the peace. Bract. fol. 146;
Span. By word; by parol. White, New MRecop. b. 2, tit. 19, ¢. 3, § 2.
A writ or ac tion for damages caused by a pound-breach, (gq. v.) It has long been obsolete. Co. Litt. 47b,; 3 Bl. Comm, 146.
A writ which lay to make partition of lands or tenements held by several as coparceners, tenants in common, ete. Reg. Orig. 76; Fitzh, Nat. Brev. 61, R; Old Nat. Brev. 142. DE PERA
- Departmentdefined inCase LawU.S. CodeCyclopedic (1922)Bouvier (1914)Black's (1910)Black's (1891)Anderson (1889)
1. One of the territorial divisions of a conntry. The term is chiefly used in this sense in France, wherethe division of the country into departments is somewhat analogous, both te
Inold Englishlaw, To pasture. “Ifa man depastures unprofitable cattle in his ground.” Bunb. 1, case 1.
A robbing of the prince or commonwealth; an embezzling of the public treasure,
- Dependencydefined inCyclopedic (1922)Ballentine's (1916)Bouvier (1914)Black's (1910)Black's (1891)Bouvier (1839)
A territory distinct from the country in which the supreme sovereign power resides, but belonging rightfully to it, and subject to the laws and regulations which the sovereign may
One which depends or is conditioned upon another. One which it is not the duty of the contractor to perform until some obligation contained in the same agreement has been performed
- Dependingdefined inCyclopedic (1922)Ballentine's (1916)Black's (1910)Kinney (1893)Black's (1891)Burrill (1850)
In practice. Pending or undetermined; in progress. See 5 Coke, 47.
A writ of trespass for carrying a pipe of wine so carelessly that it was stove, and the contents lost. Reg. Orig. 110. Alluded to by Sir William Jones in his remarks on the case of
Of a plea; of or in an action. Formal words used in declarations and other proceedings, as descriptive of the particular actiou brought.
Of eases of wounding and maiming. Bract. fol. 1443; 2 Reeve, Eng. Law, 34. See Ap-
Lat. On the ground; on alevel. A term of the Roman law descriptive of the method of hearing causes, when the pretor stood on the ground with the snitors, instead of the more formal
Writ for acquitting or releasing pledges. A writ that lay for a surety, against him for whom he had become surety for the payment of a certain sum of money at a certain day, where
- Deponedefined inCyclopedic (1922)Ballentine's (1916)Black's (1910)Kinney (1893)Black's (1891)Stimson (1881)
In Scotch practice. To depose; to inake oath in writing.
- Deponentdefined inCyclopedic (1922)Ballentine's (1916)Bouvier (1914)Black's (1910)Kinney (1893)Black's (1891)Burrill (1850)Bouvier (1839)
In practice. One who deposes (that is, testifies or makes oath in writing) to the truth of certain facts; one who gives under oath testimony which is reduced to writing; one who ma
In old Scotch practice. A deponent. 3 How. State Tr. 695.
- Depopulatio Agrorumdefined inCyclopedic (1922)Ballentine's (1916)Black's (1910)Kinney (1893)Black's (1891)Burrill (1850)
In old English law. The crime of destroying, rayaging, or laying waste a country. 2 Hale, P. ©, 333; 4 Bl. Comm. 373.
- Depopulationdefined inCyclopedic (1922)Black's (1910)Kinney (1893)Black's (1891)Burrill (1850)Bouvier (1839)
In old English law. A species of waste by which the population of the kingdom was diminished. Depopulation of houses was a public offense. 12 Coke, 80, 31,
Lat. In the civil law. A kind of banishment, where a condemned person was sent or carried away to some foreign country, usually to an island, {in énsulam deportatur,) and thus take
- Deportationdefined inCase LawCyclopedic (1922)Ballentine's (1916)Bouvier (1914)Black's (1910)Kinney (1893)Black's (1891)Burrill (1850)Bouvier (1839)
Banishment to a foreign country, attended with confiscation of property and deprivation of civil rights, A punishment derived from the deporitatio (q. v.) of the Roman law, and sti
- Depositdefined inCase LawU.S. CodeCyclopedic (1922)Ballentine's (1916)Bouvier (1914)Black's (1910)Kinney (1893)Black's (1891)Stimson (1881)Burrill (1850)
GRATUITOUS. Gratuitous deposit, is a deposit for which the depositary receives no consideration beyond the mere possession of the thing deposited. Civil Code Cal. § 1844.
An account of sums lodged witha bank not to be drawn -upon by cheeks, and usually not to be withdrawn except after a fixed notice.
- Depositarydefined inCyclopedic (1922)Ballentine's (1916)Bouvier (1914)Black's (1910)Kinney (1893)Black's (1891)Burrill (1850)Bouvier (1839)
The party reeeiving a deposit; one with whom anything is lodged in trust, as “depository” is the place where ifis put. The obligation on the part of the depositary is that he keep
In Seotech law. Deposit or depositum, the species of bailment socalled. Bell.
<A company whose business is the safe-keeping of securities or other valuables depesited in boxes or sates in its building which are leased to the depositors.
- Depositiondefined inCyclopedic (1922)Ballentine's (1916)Black's (1910)Kinney (1893)Black's (1891)Anderson (1889)Stimson (1881)Burrill (1850)
The testimony of a witness taken upon interrogatories, not in open court, but in pursuance of a commission to take testimony issued by a court, or under a general Jaw on the subjec
In Spanish law Deposit; the species of bailment so called. Schm. Civil Law, 193.
A method of pledging real property as security
- Depositordefined inCyclopedic (1922)Ballentine's (1916)Bouvier (1914)Black's (1910)Black's (1891)Bouvier (1839)
One who makes a deposit.
‘The place where a deposit (g. v.) is placed and kept.
- Depositumdefined inBallentine's (1916)Black's (1910)Kinney (1893)Black's (1891)Anderson (1889)Burrill (1850)
One of the four real contracts specified by Justinian, and having the following characteristics: (1) The depositary or depositee is not liable for negligence, however extreme, but
Writ of post disseisin. A writ which lay. for him who, having recovered lands or tenements by precipe quod reddat, on default, or reddition, was again disseised by the former disse
- Depotdefined inU.S. CodeCyclopedic (1922)Bouvier (1914)Black's (1910)Black's (1891)Anderson (1889)Burrill (1850)
In the French law, is the depositum of the Roman and the deposit of the English law. It is of two kinds, being either (1) depot simply so called, and which may be either voluntary
Of the present; in the present tense. See PER VERBA DE
To defame; vilify; exhibit contempt for. In England itis a criminal offense to “deprave” the Lorid’s supper or the Book of Common Prayer. Steph. Crim. Dig.- 99.
- Depredationdefined inCase LawU.S. CodeCyclopedic (1922)Ballentine's (1916)Black's (1910)Black's (1891)
Infrenchlaw. The pillage which is made of the goods of a deeedent,
Ina constitutional provision that no person shall be “deprived of lis property” without due process of law, this word 1s equivalent to the term “tuke,” and denotes a taking altoget
Writ for proving property. A writ directed to the sheriff, to inquire of the property or goods distrained, where the defendant in an action of replevin claims the property. 3 Bl. C
The statute 17 Edw. I. St. 1, c. 9, defining the prerogatives of the crown on certain subjects, but especially directing that the king shall have ward of the lands of idiots, takin
To appoint a deputy; to appoint or commission one to act as deputy to an officer. In a general sense, the teri is descriptive of empowering one person te act for another in any cap
- Deputydefined inCyclopedic (1922)Ballentine's (1916)Bouvier (1914)Black's (1910)Kinney (1893)Black's (1891)Stimson (1881)Burrill (1850)Bouvier (1839)
A substitute; a person duly authorized by an oilicer to exercise some or all of the functions pertaining to the office, in the place and stead of the latter. A deputy differs from
The deputy of a lord lieutenant of a county in England.
A steward ofa manor may depute or authorize another to hold a court; and the acts done in a court so holden will be as legal as if the court had been holden by the chief steward in
An ancient writ of entry.
In equity, De jure stricto, nihil possum vendicare, de eguitate tamen, nitilo modo hoc obtinet; in strict law, I can claim nothing, but in equity this by no means obtains. Fleta, l
and DE QUIBUS. Of “in the guo,” or “in the quibus.” 8 Reeve, Eng. Law, 33.
- Deraigndefined inCyclopedic (1922)Ballentine's (1916)Bouvier (1914)Black's (1910)Kinney (1893)Black's (1891)Anderson (1889)Stimson (1881)Burrill (1850)
Seems to mean, literally, to confound and. disorder, or to turn out of a course, or displace; as deraignment or departure ou€ of religion, in St. 81 Hen. VIIL e. 6. Tn the common l
Of the ravishment of maids. The name of an appeal formerly in use in England in eases of rape. Bract. fol. 147; 2 Reeve, Eng. Law, 38. DE RATIONABILI PARTE BONO-
Writ for fixing reasonable boundaries. A writ which lay to settle the boundaries between the lands of persous in different towns, where one complained of encroachment. Reg. Orig. 1
In English criminal law. Theact of drawinga eondemned criminal on « hurdle trom the place of prison to the place of execution. 4 Bi. Comin. 377. Where a man was hanged on an appeal
Of things. The title of the third part of the Digests or Pandects, comprising books 12-19, inclusive.
Of doubtful things or matters, Dig. 34, 5. DE RECORDO ET PROCESSU
In Spanish law. Law or right. Derecho comun, common law. The civil law is so called. A right. Derechos, rights,
Writ of right. Reg. Orig. 1, 2; Braet. fol. 3276. See Writ or Rient.
Writ of right of advowson. Reg. Orig. 298. A writ which lay for one who had an estate in an advowson to him and his heirs in feesimple, if he were disturbed to present. Fitzh, Nat.
Writ of redisseisin. A writ which Jay where a man recovered by assise of nov or common, and the like, and was put in sae: session thereof by verdict, and afterwards was disseised o
- Derelictdefined inCase LawCyclopedic (1922)Ballentine's (1916)Bouvier (1914)Black's (1910)Kinney (1893)Black's (1891)Anderson (1889)Stimson (1881)Burrill (1850)Bouvier (1839)
Forsaken; abandoned; deserted; cast away. Personal property abandoned or thrown away by the owner in such manner as to indicate that he intends to make no further claim thereto. 2
The gaining of land from the water, in consequence of the sea shrinking back below the usual water mark; the opposite of aldwvion, (g. 0.) Dyer, 3266; 2 Bl. Comm. 262; 1 Steph. Com
A writ by which one tenant in common seeks to compel another to aid in repairing the property held in common. 8 Barn. & C. 269.
Writ of rescue or rescous. A writ which lay where cattle distrained, or persons arrested, were rescued from those taking them. Reg. Orig. 117, 118; Fitzh. Nat. Brev. 101, C, G.
For haying a return; to haveareturn. A term applied tothe judgment for the defendant in an action of replevin, awarding him a return of the goods replevied; and to the writ or exec
Fr, sia of nothing; not guilty.
- Derivativedefined inU.S. CodeCyclopedic (1922)Ballentine's (1916)Bouvier (1914)Black's (1910)Black's (1891)Anderson (1889)
Coming from another; taken from something preceding; secondary; that which has not its origin in itself, but owes ils existence to something foregoing.
Conveyances which presuppose some other couveyanece preeedent, and only serve to enlarge, confirm, alter, restrain, restore, or transfer the interest granted by such original econy
- Derogationdefined inCyclopedic (1922)Ballentine's (1916)Bouvier (1914)Black's (1910)Kinney (1893)Black's (1891)Burrill (1850)
‘The partial repeal or abolishing of a law, as by a subsequent act which limits its scope or impairs its utility and force. Distinguished from abrogation, which means the entire re
- Derogatory Clausedefined inCyclopedic (1922)Ballentine's (1916)Bouvier (1914)Black's (1910)Black's (1891)
In a will, this is a sentence or secret character inserted by the testator, of which he reserves the knowledge to himself, with a condition that no will he may make thereafter shou
In Spanish law. An irregular action committed with violence againsl law, custom, or reason.
A writof safeguard allowed to strangers seeking their rights in English courts, and apprehending violence or injury to their persons or property Reg. Orig. 26. j
- De Salvo Conductudefined inCyclopedic (1922)Ballentine's (1916)Black's (1910)Black's (1891)Burrill (1850)
A writ of safe conduct. leg. Orig. 255, 26.
Fr. Of his or her life; of his own life; as distinguished from pur autre vie, for another's life. Litt. §§ 35, 36.
- De Scaccariodefined inCyclopedic (1922)Ballentine's (1916)Black's (1910)Black's (1891)Burrill (1850)
Of or concerning the exchequer. The title of a statute passed in the fifty-first year of Henry III. 2 Reeve, Eng. Law, 61.
One who is descended from another; a person who proceeds trom the body of another, such as a child, grandchild, etc., to the remotest degree. The term in a will, and includes all w