Black's Law Dictionary

In old English law. A free and lawful man. A term applied to a juror, from the earliest period.

A free pan; a freeman lawfully competent to act as juror. Ld. Raym. 417; Kebl. 563. An allodial proprietor, as distinguished from a vassal or feudatory. This was the sense of the t

In Saxon law. Freemen; the possessors of allodial lands. 1 Reeve, Eng. Law, 5. In the civil law. Children. The term included "grandchildren."

Lat. Liberty; freedom; a privilege; a franchise. —Libertas ecclesiastica. Church liberty, or ecclesiastical immunity.

Church liberty, or ecclesiastical immunity.

Go. Litt. 116. Liberty is that natural faculty which permits every one to do anything he pleases except that which is restrained by law or force.

Liberty is an inestimable thing; a thing above price. Dig. 50, 17, 106.

Freedom does not admit of valuation. Bract, fol. 14.

Liberty is more favored than ali things, [anything.] Dig. 50, 17, 122.

2 Inst. 496. Royal franchises relating to the crown have emanated from the crown by grant of kings.

A writ lying for a citizen or burgess, impleaded contrary to his liberty, to have Ms privilege allowed. Reg. Orig. 262.

An ancient writ whereby the king commanded the justices in eyre to admit of an attorney for the defense of another's liberty. Reg. Orig. 19.

A destroyer of liberty.

Privileged districts exempt from the sheriff's jurisdiction; as, "gaol llberties" or "jail llberties." See Gaol.

Lat. In Roman law. Freedman. There seems to have been some difference in the use of these two words; the former denoting the manumitted slaves considered in their relations with th

Co. Litt. 137. The civll laws reduce an ungrateful freedman to his original slavery; but the laws of England regard a man once manumitted as ever after free.

1. Freedom ; exemption from extraneous control. The power of the will, in its moral freedom, to follow the dictates of its unrestricted choice, and to direct the external acts of t

In marine insurance. A license or permission incorporated in a marine policy allowing the vessel to touch and trade at a designated port other than the principal port of destinatio

Religious liberty, as defined below.

Freedom accorded by the constitution or laws of a state to express opinions and facts by word of mouth, uncontrolled by any censorship or restrictions of government

In marine insurance. A license or permission incorporated in a marine policy authorizing the vessel to go to any part of the world, instead of being confined to a particular port o

The right to print and publish the truth, from good motives and for justifiable ends. People v. Croswell, 3 Johns. Cas. 394. The right freely to publish whatever the citizen may pl

A privilege to go out of the Fleet and Marshalsea prisons within certain limits, and there reside. Abolished by 5 & 6 Viet c. 22.

The liberty of having a court of one's own. Thus certain lords had the privilege of holding pleas within their own manors.

Dig. 9, 3, 7. The body of a freeman does not admit of valuation.

Every one is free to ascertain for himself whether a recommendation is advantageous to his interests. Upton v. Vail, 6 Johns. (N. Y.) 181, 184, 5 Am. Dec. 210.

In old English law. Frank-marriage. Bract, fol. 21

Free service. Service of a warlike sort by a feudatory tenant; sometimes calied "servitium Uberum armorum." Jacob. Service not unbecoming the character of a freeman and a soldier t

In old English law. Free socage. Bract fol. 207; 2 Bl. Comm. 61, 62.

In real law. Frcehold. Frank-tenement. In pleading. A plea of freehold. A pica by the defendant in an action of trespass to real property that the locus in quo is his freehold, or

In Saxon law. Witchcraft, particularly that kind which consisted in the compounding and administering of drugs and philters. Sometimes occurring in the Latinized form liblacum.

In old English law. A pound; also a sum of money equal to a pound sterling. —Libra arsa. A pound burned ; that is, melted, or assayed by melting, to test its purity. Libras arias e

A pound burned ; that is, melted, or assayed by melting, to test its purity. Libras arias et pensatas, pounds burned and weighed. A frequent expression in Domesday, to denote the p

A pound of money counted instead of being weighed. Spelman,

A pound of money by weight. It was usual in former days not only to sell the money, but to weigh it; because many cities, lords, and bishops, having their mints, coined money, and

In Roman law. A writer or amanuensis; a copyist. Dig. 50, 17, 92.

A portion of ground containing four oxgangs, and every oxgang fourteen acres. Cowell. This is the same with what in Scotland was called "pound-land" of old extent Wharton.

In Roman law. A weigher or balance-holder. The person who held a brazen balance in the ceremony of emancipation per œs et libram. Inst. 2, 10, 1.

Under the name of books are contained all volumes, whether upon paper or parchment or any other material. Dig. 32, 52, pr.

In Spanish law. An attorney or advocate; particularly, a person admitted to the degree of "Licentiate in Jurisprudence" by any of the literary universities of Spain, and who is the

In the law of contracts. A permission, accorded by a competent authority, conferring the right to do some act which without such authorization would be illegal, or would be a tresp

The name given to the group of cases including Peirce v. New Hampshire, 5 How. 504 , 12 L. Ed. 256, decided by the United States supreme court in 1847, to the effect that state law

A term applied, in England, to all persons selling any kind of Intoxicating liquor under a license from the justices of the peace. Wharton.

A person to whom a license has been granted. In patent law. One who has had transferred to him, either in writing or orally, a less or different interest than either the interest i

The price paid to governmental or municipal authority for a license to engage in and pursue a particular calling or occupation. See Home Ins. Co. v. Augusta, 50 Ga. 537 ; Levi v. L

A license authorizing a conveyance of property which, without it, would be invalid under the statutes of mortmain.

See License.

This expression is applied by Hallam (Const. Hist c. 13) to acts of parliament for the restraint of printing, except by license. It may also be applied to any act of parliament pas

The person who gives or grants a license.

Lat License; leave; permission. —Licentia concordandi. In old practice and conveyancing. License or leave to agree; one of the proceedings on levying a fine of lands. 2 Bl. Comm. 3

In old practice and conveyancing. License or leave to agree; one of the proceedings on levying a fine of lands. 2 Bl. Comm. 350.

In old practice. Leave to speak, (i. e., with the plaintiff;) an imparlance; or rather leave to imparl. 3 Bl, Comm. 299.

In old English practice. License to arise; permission given by the court to a tenant in a real action, who had cast an essoin de malo lecti, to arise out of his bad, which he could

One who has license to practice any art or faculty.

A writ or warrant directed to the keeper of the port of Dover, or other seaport, commanding him to let such persons pass over sea as have obtained the royal license thereunto. Reg.

The indulgence of the arbitrary will of the individual, without regard to ethics or law or respect for the rights of others. In this it differs from "liberty;" for the latter term

Lat. To be lawful; to be allowed or permitted by law. Calvin.

Lat. In Roman law. To offer a price for a thing; to bid for it

Lat From the verb "Hcere," —Licet sæpius requisitus. (Although often requested.) In pleading. A phrase used in the old Latin forms of declarations, and literally translated in the

Although the grant of a future interest be inoperative, yet a declaration precedent may be made, which may take effect provided a new act intervene. Bac. Max. pp. 60, 61, reg. 14;

(Although often requested.) In pleading. A phrase used in the old Latin forms of declarations, and literally translated in the modern precedents. Yel. 66; 2 Chit. PI. 90; 1 Chit. P

Lawful acts [done by several authorities] are well mingled, [i. e., become united or consolidated into one good act,] unless some form of law forbid. Ban. Max. p. 94, reg. 24.

In Spanish law. The offering for sale at public auction of an estate or property held by co-heirs or joint proprietors, which cannot be divided up without detriment to the whole.

Lat. In Roman law. To offer a price at a sale; to bid; to bid often; to make several bids, one above another. Calvin.

In the civil law. An offering for sale to the highest bidder or to him who will give most for a thing. An act by which co-heirs or other co-proprietors of a thing in common and und

In Roman law. A bidder at a sale.

State v. Miller, 60 Vt. 90, 12 Atl. 526. —Illicit connection. Unlawful sexual intercourse. State v. King, 9 S. D. 628, 70 N. W. 1046. —Illicit cohabitation. The living together as

An ancient formality by which bargains were completed.

In English law. A deputy-governor, acting as the chief civil officer of one of several colonies under a governor general. Webster. In American law. An officer of a slate, sometimes

A sort of lynch law, whereby a person was first punished and then tried. Wharton.

To subsist; to exist; to be sustainable; to be proper or available. Thus .the phrase "an action will not lie" means that an action cannot be sustained, or that there is no ground u

An old form of "lieutenant," and still retained as the vulgar pronunciation of the word.

In feudal law. Bound by a feudal tenure; bound in allegiance to the lord paramount, who owned no superior. In old records. Fuil; absolute; perfect; pure. Liege widowhood was pure w

Homage which, when performed by one sovereign prince to another, included fealty and services, as opposed to simple homage, which was a mere acknowledgment of tenure. (1 Bl. Camm.

A sovereign ; a superior lord.

He that oweth allegiance, Cowell.

In Scotch law. That state of health which gives a person full power to dispose of, mortis causd or otherwise, his heritable property. Bell. A deed executed at the time of such a st

A resident ambassador.

Subjects.

Property is said to "lie in franchise" when it is of such a nature that the persons entitled thereto may seize it without the aid of a court; e. g., wrecks, waifs, estrays.

Incorporeal hereditaments are said to "lie in grant;" that is, they pass by force of the grant (deed or charter) without livery.

A term applied to corporeal hereditaments, freeholds, etc., signifying that they pass by livery, not by the mere force of the grant.

See Lying in Wait.

A qualified right of property which a creditor has in or over specific property of his debtor, as security for the debt or charge or for performance of some act. In every case in w

One whose debt or claim is secured by a lien on particular property, as distinguished from a "general" creditor, who has no such security.

The commencement of a covenant stating the names of the covenantors and covenantees, and the character of the covenant, whether joint or several. Wharton.

The person having or owning a lien; one who has a right of lien upon property of another.

To adjoin. A cottage must have had four acres of land laid to it. See 2 Show. 279.

Fr. Place; room. Itlis only used with "in;" in lieu, instead of. Enc. Lond.

L. Fr. In old pleading. A known place; a place well known and generally taken notice of by those who dwell about it, as a castle, a manor, etc. Whishaw; 1 Ld. Raym. 259.

1. A deputy; substh tute; an officer who supplies the place of another; one acting by vicarious authority. Etymologically, one who holds the post or office of another, in the place

An officer of the army whose rank is above that of a major and below that of a colonel.

A commissioned officer of the United States navy, whose rquk is above that of lieutenant and below that of commander. —.Lieutenant general. An officer in the army, whose rank is ab

That state of animals and plants or of an organized being, in which its natural functions and motions are performed or in which its organs are capable of performing their functions

An estate whose duration is limited to the life of the party holding it, or of some other person ; a freehold estate, not of inhe not amounting to ownership, and limited by a term

That kind of insurance in which the risk contemplated is the death of a particular person; upon which event (if it occurs within a prescribed term, or, according to the contract, w

Land held on a lease for lives.

The period during which a writ (execution, etc.) remains effective and can lawfully be served or levied, terminating with the day on which, by law or by its own terms, it is to be

Letters patent, conferring the dignity of baron for life only, do not enable the grantee to sit and vote in the house of lords, not even with the usual writ of summons to the house

A policy of life insurance; a policy of insurance upon the life of an individual.