Black's Law Dictionary

An external pledge or asseveration, made in verification of statements made or to be made, coupled with an appeal to a sacred or venerated object, In evidence of the serious and re

One which could bave'been administered to a voter at an election for members of parliament. Abolished in 1854. Wharton.-

The oath by which a clergyman charged with a criminal offense was formerly allowed to swear himself to be innocent; also the oath by which the compurgators swore that they believed

In the civil law. An oath permitted to be taken by the plnintiff, for the purpose of proving the value of the subject-matter in controversy, when there was no other evidence on tha

An oath by which a person promises and binds himself to bear true allegiance to a particular sovereign or government, e. g., the United States; administered generally to high publi

In the civil law. An oath which a plaintiff was obliged to take that he was not prompted by malice or trickery in commencing his action, but that he had bona fide a good cause of a

An oath to uphold the supreme power of the kingdom of England in the person of the reigning sovereign.

The form used at the taking of an oath.

Lat. On account of; for. Several Latin phrases and maxims, commencing with this word, are more commonly introduced by "in" (q. v.)

For some cause arising out of a maritime matter. 1 Pet. Adm. 92. Said to be Selden's translation of the French definition of admiralty jurisdiction, "pour le fait de la mer." Id.

On acoount of contiguity to the offense, i. e., being contaminated by conjunction with something illegal. For example, the cargo of a vessel, though not contraband or unlawful, may

On account of connection; by reason of similarity. In Scotch law, this phrase expresses a ground for the consolidation of actions.

Compliance with a command, prohibition or known law and rule of duty prescribed; the performance of what is required or enjoined by authority or the abstaining from what is prohibi

An office or the administration of it; a kind of rent; submission; obedience.

11 Coke, 100. Obedience is the essence of law.

A monastic officer. Du Cange.

In favor of merchants. Fleta, lib. 2, c. 63, § 12

Glan. llb. 14, c. ii. On account of evil report, It is not usual, according to the law of the land, for any person to purge himself, unless he have been previously convicted, or co

In old English law. A funeral solemnity or office for the dead. Cowell. The anniversary of a person's death; the anniversary office. Cro. Jac. 51.

Lat. By the way; in passing; Incidentally; collaterally. —Obiter dictum. A remark made, or opinion expressed, by a judge, in his decision upon a cause, "by the way," that is, incid

A remark made, or opinion expressed, by a judge, in his decision upon a cause, "by the way," that is, incidentally or collaterally, and not directly upon the question before him, o

Lat [He] died without issue.Yearb. M. 1 Edw. II. 1.

n. This term "includes whatever is presented to the mind, as well as what may be presented to the senses; whatever, also, is acted upon or operated upon, affirmatively or intention

The act of a party who objects to some matter or proceeding in the course of a trial, (see Object, v. .-) or an argument or reason urged by him in support of his contention that th

The thing sought to be obtained by the action ; the remedy demanded or the relief or recovery sought or prayed for; not the same thing as the cause of action or the subject of the

The "object" of a stainte is the aim or purpose of the enactment, the end or design which it is meant to accomplish, while the "subject" is the matter to which it relates and with

Where property is settled subject to a power given to any person or persons to appoint the same among a limited class, the members of the class are calied the "objects" of the powe

In old English law. Scolds or unquiet women, punished with the cucking-stool.

Gifts or offerings made to the king by any of hls subjects; old debts, brought, as it were, together from preceding years, and put on the present sheriff's charge, Wharton.

Half an acre, or, as seme say, half a perch, of land. Spelman.

In old European law. Voluntary slaves of churches or monasteries.

In the civil law. An action given to a party against another who had offered to him a stolen thing, which was found in his possession. Inst. 3,1, 4.

Lat In the civll law. A tender of money in payment of a debt made by debtor to creditor. Whatever is offered to the church by the pious. Calvin.

2 Inst. 389. Those things are called "oblations" which are offered to God and to the church by pious and faithful Christiane, whether they are movable or immovable.

Or obventions, are offerings or customary payments made, in England, to the minister of a church, including fees on marriages, burials, mortuaries, etc., (q. v.) and Caster offerin

To bind or constrain; to bind to the observance or performance of a duty; to place under an obligation. To bind one's self by an obligation or promise; to assume a duty; to execute

Lat. In Roman law. The legal relation existing between two certain persons whereby one (the creditor) is authorized to demand of the other (the debtor) a certain performance which

An obligation is a legal duty, by which a person is bound to do or not to do a certain thing. Civ. Co.de Cal. § 1427; Civ. Co.de Dak. § 798. The binding power of a vow, promise, oa

As used in Co.nst. U. S. art. 1, § 10, the term means the binding and coercive force which constrains every man to perform the agreements he has made; a force grounded in the ethic

This, in French law, corresponds to joint and several liability in English law, but is applied also to the joint and several rights of the creditors parties to the obligation.

The term "writing obligatory" is a technical term of the law, and means a written contract under seal. Watson v. Hoge, 7 Yerg. (Tenn.) 350.

The person in favor of whom some obligation is contracted, whether such obligation be to pay money or to do or not to do something. Code La. art. 3522, no. 1L The party to whom a b

The person who has engaged to perform some obligation. Code Ln. art. 3522, no. 12. One who makes a bond.

Lat. In the old law of descents. Oblique; cross; transverse; collateral. The opposite of rectus, right, or upright In the law of evidence. Indirect; circumstantial,

Erasure or blotting out of written words. Obliteration is not limited to effacing the letters of a wili or scratching them out or blotting them so completely that they cannot be re

To expose one to "obloquy" is to expose him to censure and reproach, as the latter terms are synonymous with "obloquy." Bettner v. Holt, 70 Cal. 275, 11 Pan. 716.

In Spanish law. Work. Obras, works or trades; those which men carry on in houses or covered places. White, New Recop. b. 1, tit. 5, c. 3, § 6.

Lat. In Roman law. A debtor who was obliged to serve his creditor till his debt was discharged. Adams, Rom. Ant. 49.

Lat. The obtaining a thing by fraud or surprise. Calvin. Called, in Scotch law, "obreption."

Obtaining anything by fraud or surprise. Acquisition of escheats, etc., from the sovereign, by making fuise representations. Belli

Lat In the civll law. To pass a law contrary to a former law or to some clause of it; to change a former law in some part of it. Calvin.

In the civil law. The alteration of a law by the passage of one inconsistent with it. Calvin.

Lewd; impure; indecent; calculated to shock the moral sense of man by a disregard of chastity or modesty. Timmons v. U. S., 85 Fed. 205, 30 C. C. A. 74; U. S. v. Harmon (D. C.) 45

The character or quality of being obscene; conduct tending to corrupt the public morals by its indecency or lewdness. State v. Pfenninger, 76 Mo. App. 313; In S. v. Loftis (D. C.)

In the civil law. To perform that which has been prescribed by some law or usage. Dig. 1, 3, 32. See Marshall County v. Knoll, 102 Iowa, 573, 69 N. W. 1146.

Lat. In the law of war. A hostage. Obsides, hostages.

Lat In the civil law. To seal up ; as money that had been tendered and refused.

Ratifying and confirming.

Becoming obsolete; going out of use; not entirely disused, but gradually becoming so.

Disused; neglected; not observed. The term is applied to statutes which have become inoperative by lapse of time, either because the reason for their enactment has passed away, or

Withstanding; hindering. See Non Obstante.

Lat. Withstand beginnings; resist the first approaches or encroachments. "It is the duty of courts to be watchful for the constitutional rights of the citizen, and against any stea

Obligation; bond.

1. To block up; to interpose obstacles; to render impassable; to fill with barriers or impediments; as to obstruct a road or way. U. S. v. Williams, 28 Fed. Cas. 633; Chase v. Oshk

In criminal law. The act by which one or more persons attempt to prevent or do prevent the execution of lawful process.

This is the word properly descriptive of an injury to any one's incorporeal hereditament, e. g., his right to an casement, or profit d prendre; an alternative word being "disturban

To acquire; to get hold of by effort; to get and retain possession of; as, in the offense of "obtaining" money or property by false pretenses. See Com. v. Schmunk, 207 Pa. 544, 56

Lat. To obey. Hence the Scotch "obtemper," to obey or comply with a judgment of a court

To protest

In Roman law. Taking by the neck or collar; as a plaintiff was allowed to drag a reluctant defendant to couch Adams, Bom. Ant. 242.

(Offered himself.) In old practice. The emphatic words of entry on the record where one party offered himself in court against the other, and the latter did not appear. 1 Reeve, En

For an immoral consideration. Dig. 12, 5.

Lat. In the civil law. Rent; profits; income; the return from an investment or thing owned; as the earnings of a vessel. In old English law. The revenue of a spiritual llving, so c

An abbreviation, in the civil law, for "ope consilio," (g. v.) In American law, these letters are used as an abbreviation for "Orphans' Court."

In Spanish law. Acoident. Las Partidas, pt. 3, tit. 32, 1. 21; White, New Recop. b. 2, tit. 9, c. 2.

In feudal law. A tribute which the lord imposed on his vassals or tenants for his necessity. Hindrance; trouble; vexation by suit

To be charged or loaded with payments or occasional penalties.

In old English law. Assaris. Spelman.

3 Inst. 133. The concealment of discovered treasure is fraudulent.

Occupancy is a mode of acquiring property by which a thing which belongs to nobody becomes the property of the person who took possession of it, with the intention of acquiring a r

In a general sense. One who takes possession of a thing, of which there is no owner; one who has the actual possession or control of a thing. In. a special sense. One who takes pos

Things abandoned become the property of the (first) occupant. Taylor-v. The Cato, 1 Pet. Adm. 53, Fed. Cas. No. 13,786.

Lat. In the civil law. To seize or take possession of; to enter upon a vacant possession; to take possession before another. Calvin.

That which has been left by the right owner, and ls now possessed by another.

1. Possession; control; tenure; use. In its usual sense "occupation" is where a person exercises physical control over land. Thus, the lessee of a house is in occupation of it so l

A tax imposed upon an occupation or the prosecution of a business, trade, or profession ; not a tax on property, or even the capital employed in the business, but an excise tax on

Possessed; used; employed.

Lat. In old English law. A writ that lay for one who was ejected out of his land or tenement in time of war. Cowell.

An occupant; one who is in the enjoyment of a thing.

To hold in possession; to hold or keep for use. Missionary Soc. of M. E. Church v. Dalles City, 107 U. S. 343, 2 Sup. Ct. 677, 27 L. Ed. 545; Jackson v. Gill, 11 Johns. (N. Y.) 214

Statutes providing for the reimbursement of a bona fide occupant and claimant of land, on tin recovery by the true owner, to the extent to which lasting improvements made by him ha

The main or open sea; the high sea; that portion of the sea which does not lie within the body of any country and is not subject to the territorial jurisdiction or control of any c

In old Scotch law. A name of dignity; a freeholder. Skene de Verb. Sign.

Government by the multitude. A form of government wherein the populace has the whole power and administration in its own hands.

In old English law. The eighth day inclusive after a feast; one of the return days of writs. 3 Bl. Comm. 278.

Eight such ; eight such men; eight such Jurors. The name of a writ, at common law, which issues when upon a trial at bar, eight more jurors are necessary to fill the panel, command

Fr. In French law. Originally, a duty, which, by the permission of the seigneur, any city was accustomed to collect on liquors and some other goods, brought within Its precincts, f

Good men hate sin through love of virtue; bad men, through fear of punishment.

Complete property, as opposed to feudal tenure. The transposition of the syllables of "odhal" makes It "allodh" and hence, according to Blaekstone, arises the word "allod" or "allo

A writ anciently called "breve de bono et malo," addressed to the sheriff to inquire whether a man committed to prison upon suspicion of murder were committed on just cause of susp