Black's Law Dictionary

1. A character, usually in the form of a cross, made as a substitute for his signature by a person who cannot write, in executing a conveyance or other legal document. It is common

See Marc Banco.

A penny anciently paid at the town of Maldon toy those who had gutters laid or made out of their houses into the streets. Wharton.

A public time and appointed place of buying and selling; also purchase and sale. Caldwell v. Alton, 33 111. 419, 75 Am. Dec. 282; Taggart v. Detroit, 71 Mich. 92, 38 N. W, 714; Str

Such things as may be sold in the market; those for which a buyer may be found. —Marketable title. A "marketable title" to land ls such a title as a court of equity, when asked to

See that title.

The toll of a market.

See Market

The actual price at which the given commodity is currently sold, or has recently been sold, in the open market, that is, not at a forced sale, but in the usual and ordinary course

Those towns which are entitled to hold markets. 1 Steph. Comm. (7th Ed.) 130

The market value of an article or piece of property is the price which it might be expected to bring if offered for sale in a fair market; not the price which might be obtained on

In practice and conveyancing. One who makes his mark ; a person who cannot write, and only makes bis mark in executing instruments. Arch. N. Pr. 13; 2 Chit. 92.

The seigniory of a marquis.

In English law. One of the second order of nobility; next in order to a duke,

Marriage, as distinguished from the agreement to marry and from the act of becoming married, is the civil status of one man and one woman united In law for life, for the discharge

Articles of agreement between parties contemplating marriage, intended as preliminary to a formal marriage settlement, to be drawn after marriage. Ath. Mar. Sett. 92.

The act by which a third person, for a consideration, negotiates a marriage between a man and woman. The money paid for such services is also known by this name. Helien v. Anderson

The form, religious or civil, for the solemnization of a marriage.

The consideration furnished by an intended marriage of two persons. It is the highest consideration known to the law.

A license or permission granted by public authority to persons who intend to intermarry. By statute in some jurisdictions, it is made an essential prerequisite to the lawful solemn

A book kept, in England, by the registrar, in which applications for and issue of registrar's licenses to marry are recorded.

Dowry ; a sum of money or other property which is given to or settled on a woman on her marriage. In re Croft, 162 Mass. 22, 37 N. E. 784,

Betrothal; engagement to intermarry with another. Perry v. Orr, 35 N. J. Law, 296.

A written agreement in the nature of a conveyance, calied a "settlement," which is made in contemplation of a proposed marriage and in consideration thereof, either by the parties

A woman who has a husband living and not divorced; a feme covert.

In old English law. The title borne by several officers of state and of the law, of whom the most important were the following: (1) The earl-marshal, who presided in the court of c

Arranging, ranking or disposing in order; particularly, in the case of a group or series of conflicting claims or interests, arranging them in such an order of sequence or so direc

In equity. The arranging or ranking of assets in the due order of administration. Such an arrangement of the different funds under administration as shall enable all the parties ha

The ranking or ordering of several estates or parcels of land, for the satisfaction of a judgment or mortgage to which they are ali liable, though successively conveyed away by the

See Marshaling.

An officer who had the custody of the queen's bench prison. The St. 5 & 6 Viet. c. 22, abolished this office, and substituted an officer calied "keeper of the queen's prison."

In English law. A prison belonging to the king's bench. It has now been consolidated with others, under the name of the "King's Prison." —Marshalsea, conrt of. The court of the Mar

The court of the Marshalsea bad jurisdiction in actions of debt or torts, the cause of which arose within the verge of the royal court. It was abolished by St. 12 & 13 Viet. c. 10L

A place of public traffic or sale.

Lat. To run by its own force. A term applied in the civil law to a suit when it ran its course to the end without any impediment. Calvim

A system of law, obtaining only in time of actual war and growing out of the exigencies thereof, arbitrary in its character, and depending only on the wlll of the commander of an a

The feast of St. Martin of Tours, on the 11th of November; sometimes corrupted into "Martilmas" or "Mar-tlemas." It is the third of the four cross quarter-days of the year. Wharton

In old Scotch law. A make; an officer or executor of summons. Otherwise called "prwco regis." Skene.

In Lat. A messuage.

In the civli law. A mass; an unwrought substance, such as gold or silver, before it is wrought into cups or other articles. Dig. 47, 2, 52, 14; Fleta, llb. 2, c. 60, §§ 17, 22.

To fatten with mast, (acorns, etc.) 1 Leon. 186.

One having authority; one who rules, directe, instructs or superintends ; a head or chief; an instructor; an employer. Applied to several judicial officers. See infra. —Master aud

The title of officers of the English superior courts of common law appointed to record the proceedings of the court to which they belong; to superintend the issue of writs and the

The relation of master and servant exists where one person, for pay or other valuable consideration, enters into the service of another and devotes to him his personal labor for an

An officer of a court of chancery who acts as an assistant to the judge or chancellor. His office is to inquire into such matters as may be referred to him by the court, examine ea

In English law. The masters in lunacy are judicial officers appointed by the lord chancellor for the purpose of conducting inquiries into the state of mind of persons alleged to be

In maritime law. The commander of a merchant vessel, who has the chief charge of her government and navigation and the command of the crew, as well as the general care and control

The king's coroner and attorney in the criminal department of the court of king's bench, who prosecutes at the relation of some private person or common informer, the crown being t

In English law. An officer under the archbishop, who grants licenses and dispensations, etc.

In English law. The third great officer of the royal household, being next to the lord steward and lord chamberlain. He has the privilege of making use of any horses, footmen, or p

In English law. An officer who receives bullion for coinage, and pays for it, and superintends everything belonging to the mint. He is usually calied the "warden of the mint." It i

In English law. A great officer, to whose care all the royal ordnance and artillery were committed.

See Master.

The chief ecclesiastical functionary of the Temple Church.

In maritime law. A list-or account of a ship's company, required to be kept by the master or other person baving care of the ship, containing the name, age, national character, and

In English law. Officials deriving their title from Jud. (Officers') Act 1879, and being, or filling the places of, the sixteen masters of the common-law courts, the .queen's coron

The formal report or statement made by a master in chancery of his decision on any question referred to him, or of any facis or action he has been directed to ascertain or take.

In old English law. The practice of selling the goods of dead scamen at the mast. Held void. 7 Mod. 141.

In old records. A decayed house; a wall; the ruins of a building; a certain quantity of land, about four oxgangs.

The officer second in command on a merchant vessel. Ely v. Peck, 7 Conn. 242; Millaudon v. Martin, 6 Rob. (Lat) 539.

In French law. The hire of a ship or boat.

Lat. In the civll law. The mother or mistress of a family. A chaste woman, married or single. Calvin.

Lat. In the civil law. Materials; as distinguished from species, or the form given by labor and skill. Dig. 41, 1, 7, 7-12; Fleta, lib. 3, c. 2, § 14. Materials (wood) for building

Important; more or less necessary; having influence or effect; going to the merits; having to do with matter, as distinguished from form. An allegation is said to be material when

A materini allegation in a pleading is one essential to the claim or defense, and which could not be stricken from the pleading without leaving it insufficient. Lusk v. Perkins, 48

Such as is relevant and goes to the substantial matters in dispute, or has a legitimate and effective influence or bearing on the decision of the case. Porter v. Valentine, 18 Misc

(In contracts.) One which constitutes substantially the consideration of the contract, or without which it would not have been made. Lyons v. Stephens, 45 Ga. 143. (In pleading and

The property or character of being material. See Material.

A person who has furnished materials used in the construction or repair of a building, structure, or vessel. See Curlett v. Aaron, 6 Houst. (Del.) 478.

The substance or matter of which anything is made; matter furnished for the erection of a house, ship or other structure; matter used or intended to be used in the construction of

That which belongs to or comes from, the mother; as maternal authority, maternal relation, maternal estate, maternal line. —Maternal property. That which comes from the mother of t

A line of descent or relationship between two persons which is traced through the mother of the younger.

That which comes from the mother of the party, and other ascendants of the maternal stock. Dom. Liv. Prl. t. 3, s. 2, nn. 12.

Lat A maxim of the French law, signifying that property of a decedent acquired by him through his mother descends to the relations on the mother's side.

The character, relation, state or condition of a mother.

Lat. In the civil law. A maternal aunt; a mother's sister. Inst. 3, 6, 1; Bract, fol. 68b. —Matertera magna. A great aunt; a grandmother's sister, (aviæ soror.) Dig. 38, 10, 10, 15

A great aunt; a grandmother's sister, (aviæ soror.) Dig. 38, 10, 10, 15.

A greater aunt; a great-grandmother's sister, (proavice soror;) a father's or mother's great-aunt, (patris vel matris matertera magna.) Dig. 38, 10, 10, 16.

A greatest aunt; a great-great-grandmother's sister, (abaviœ soror;) a father's or mother's greater aunt, (patris vel matris matertera major.) Dig. 38, 10, 10, 17.

See Evidence.

The murder of a mother; or one who has slain his mother.

In the civil and old English law. A register of the admission of officers and persons entered into any body or society, whereof a list was made. Hence those who are admitted to a c

To enter as a student in a university.

Marriages ought to be free. A maxim of the civil law. 2 Kent, Comm. 102.

Of or pertaining to matrimony or the estate of marriage. —Matrimonial causes. In English ecclesiastical law. Causes of action or injuries respecting the rights of marriage. One of

In English ecclesiastical law. Causes of action or injuries respecting the rights of marriage. One of the three divisions of causes or injuries cognizable by the ecclesiastical cou

The living together of a man and woman ostensibly as husband and wife. Cox v. State, 117 Ala. 103, 23 South. 806, 41 In R. A. 760, 67 Am. St. Rep. 166; Wilcox v. Wilcox, 46 Hun (N.

Lat. In Roman law. A legal marriage, contracted in strict accordance with the forms of the older Roman law, i. e., either with the farreum, the coemptio or by usus. This was allowe

Subsequent marriage cures preceding criminality.

Marriage, (q. v.,) in the sense of the relation or status, not of the ceremony.

In the civil law. The protocol or first draft of a legal instrument, from which all copies must be taken. See Downing v. Diaz, 80 Tex. 436, 16 S. W. 53.

Lat A mother church. This term was anciently applied to a cathedral, in relation to the other churches in the same see or to a parochial church, in relation to the chapels or minor

A married woman; an elderly woman. The female superintendent of an establishment or institution, such as a hospital, an orphan asylum, etc., is often so called.

Facts; substance as distinguished from form; the merits of a case. —Matter in controversy, or in dispute. The subject of litigation; the matter for which a suit is brought and upon

The subject of litigation; the matter for which a suit is brought and upon which issue is joined. Lee v. Watson, 1 Wall. 337 , 17 L. Ed. 557.

Such matter as may be proved or established by a deed or specialty. Matter of fact, in contradistinction to matter of law. Co. Litt. 320; Steph. PI. 197.

. The subject of litigation ; the matter for which a suit is brought and upon which issue is joined, and in relation to which jurors are called and witnesses examined. Lee v. Watso

That upon which the plaintiff proceeds in his action, Und which the defendant controverts by his pleadings, not including facis offered in evidence to establish the matters in issu

Jenk. Cent 180. Matter of law shali not be put into the mouth of the jurors.

Matter of fact that is not in writing; thus distinguished from matter in deed and matter of reconi ; matter that must be proved by parol evidence.