Black's Law Dictionary

In old English law. Mere; naked or abstract. Merum jits, mere right Bract, fol. 31.

Lat. Merchandise; movable articles that are bought and sold; articles of trade.

Merchandise is whatever can be sold. Coin. 355 ; 3 Wood. Leet. 263.

In Fr. Apostates; unbelievers.

A term used in the ancient books to designate an infidel or unbeliever.

A house and its appurtenance. Cowell.

A manor held under a superior lord. The estate of a mesne.

Intermediate; intervening; the middle between two extremes, especially of rank or time. An intermediate lord; a lord who stood between a tenant and the chief lord; a lord who was a

If A. grant a lease of land to B., and B. assign his interest to C-, and C. in his turn assign his interest therein to D., in this case the assignments so made by B. and C. would b

An intermediate conveyance ; one occupying an intermediate position in a chain of title between the first grantee and the present holder.

An intermediate charge, burden, or liability; an incumbrance which has been created or has attached to property between two given periods.

In old English law. A middle or intermediate laid; a lord who held of a superior lord. 2 Bl. Comm. 59. More commonly termed a "mesne," (q v.)

As distinguished from final process, this signifies any writ or process issued between the commencement of the action and the suing out of execution. It includes the writ of summon

Intermediate profits; that is, profits which have been accruing between two given periods. Thus, after a party has recovered the land itself in an action of ejectment, he frequentl

An action of trespass brought to recover profits derived from land, while the possession of it has been improperly withheld; that is, the yearly value of the premises. Worthington

An, ancient and abolished writ, which lay) when the lord paramount distrained on the tenant paravail. The latter had a writ of mesne against the mesne lord. As to mesne "Conveyance

In English law. The method of communicating between the sovereign and the house of parliament. A written message under the royal sign-manual is brought by a mefflber of the house,

In old English law. A chief servant in husbandry; a bailiff.

In Danish sea law. One of a ship's papers; a certificate of admeasurement granted at the home port of a vessel by the government or by some other competent authority. Jac. Sea Laws

One who bears messages or errands; a ministerial officer employed by executive officers, legislative bodies, and courts of justice, whose service consists principally in carrying v

One who said mass; a priest. Cowell.

The crop belongs to [follows] the sower. A maxim in Scotch law. Where a person is in possession of land which he has reason to bslieve is his own, and sows that land, he will have

This term ls now synonymous with "dwelling-house," but had once a more extended signification. It is frequently used in deeds, in describing the premlses. Marmet Co. v. Archibald,

A mongrel or person of mixed blood; sometimes used as equivalent to "octoroon," that is, the child of a white person and a quadroon, sometimes as denoting a person one of whose par

Lat A goal, bound or turning-point. In old English law, the term was used to denote a bound or boundary line of land; a landmark; a material object, as a tree or a pillar, marking

An error in computation of time,

Lat. In Roman law. Metal; a mine. Labor in mines, as a punishment for crime. Dig. 40, 5, 24, 5; Calvim

In old European law. A dwelling; a seat; a station; quarters; the place where one lives or stays. Spelman.

A system of agricultural holdings, under which the land Is divided, in small farms, among single families, the landlord generally supplying the stock which the agricultural system

A measure or portion of corn, given by a lord to customary tenants as a reward and encouragement for labor. Cowell.

A tribute or rent paid in victuals. Cowell.

An instrument of measurement; as a coal-meter, a gas-meter, a land-meter.

In conveyancing. The boundary lines of lands, with their terminating points or angles. Pcople v. Guthrie, 46 III. App. 128; Rollins v. Mooers. 25 Me. 196.

A Staff of a certain length wherewith measures are taken.

Sax. Speech; discourse. Mathlian, to speak; to harangue. Anc. lust. Eng.

In patent law. "Engine" and "method" mean the same thing, and may be the subject of a patent. Method, properly speaking, is only placing several things or performing several operat

See Insanity.

The unit of measure in the "metric system" of weights and measurea It is a measure of length, being the ten-millionth part of the dlstance from the equator to the north pole, and e

A system of measures for length, surface, weight, and capacity, founded on the metre as a unit. It originated in France, has been established by law there and in some other countri

A mother city; one from which a colony was sent out. The capital of a province. Calvin.

In English law. One of the titles of an archbishop. Derived from the circumstance that archbishops were consecrated at first in the metropolis of a province. 4 Inst. 94. In England

A board constituted in 1855 by St. 18 & 19 Viet. c. 120, for the batter sewering, draining, paving, cleansing, lighting, and improving the metropolis (London.) The board is elected

A region composed of New ork city and some adjacent territory, which was, for police purposes, organized as one district, and provided with a police force common to the whole.

In old records. An acknowledgment paid in a certain measure of corn ; or a fine or penalty imposed on tenants for default in not doing their customary service in cutting the lord's

Lat. Fear; terror. In a technical sense, a reasonable and well-grounded apprehension of some great evil, such as death or mayhem, and not arising out of mere timidity, but such as

In French law. The movables of English law. Things are meubles from either of two causes: (1) From their own nature, e. g., tables, chairs; or (2) from the determination of the law

It is mine to promise, not to discharge, 2 Rolle, 39.

In Saxon law. A recompense or satisfaction for the slaying or murder of a kinsman. Spelman.

The feast of the Archangel Michael, celebrated in England on the 29th of September, and one of the usual quarter days. —Michaelmas head conrt. A meeting of the heritors of Scotland

A meeting of the heritors of Scotland, at which the roll of freeholders used to be revised. See Bell.

One of the four terms of the English courts of common law, beginning on the 2d day of November and ending on the 25th. 3 Steph. Comm. 562.

One of the names of the general council immemorially held in England. The Witenagemote. One of the great councils of king and noblemen in Saxon times. Jacob.

Great council. One of the names of the general council of the kingdom in the times of the Saxons. 1 Bl. Comm. 147.

Old Eng. To practice crimes requiring concealment or secrecy; to pilfer articles secretly. Micher, one who practices secret crime, Webster.

In old English law. Theft; cheating.-1

An agent between two parties, an intermediary who performs the office of a broker or factor between seller and buyer, producer and consumer, land-owner and tenant, etc. Southack v.

A phrase nsed in logic to denote the term which occurs in both of the premises in the syllogism, being the means of bringing together the two terms in the conclusion.

The middle thread of a stream is an imaginary line drawn lengthwise through the middle of its current

In ships of war, a kind of naval cadet, whose business is to second or transmit the orders of the superior officers and assist in the necessary business of the vessel, but understo

The summer solstice, which is on the 24th day of June, and the feast of St. John the Baptist, a festival first mentioned by Maximus Tauricensis, A. D. 400. It is generally a quarte

In medical jurisprudence. A woman who practices midwifery; an accoucheuse.

In Spanish law. Crops of grain. White, New Recop. b. 1, tit. 7, c. 5, § 2. Migrans jura amittat ae privilegia et immunitates domicilii prioris. One who emigrates will lose the righ

A measure of length or distance, containing 8 furlongs or 1,760 yards or 5,280 feet. This is the measure of an ordinary or statute mile; but the nautical or gcographical mile conta

A payment or charge, at a fixed rate per mile, allowed as a compensation for traveling expenses to members of legislative bodies, witnesses, sheriffs, and bailiffs. Richardson v. S

Lat. In the civil law. A soldier. In old English law. A knight, bscause military service was part of the feudal tenure. Also a tenant by mllitary service, not a knight. 1 Bl. Comm.

To be knighted.

Pertaining to war or to the army; concerned with wav. Also the whole body of soldiers; an army. —Military bounty land. See Bounty. — Military causes. In English law. Causes of acti

Land granted by various laws of the United States, by way of bounty, to soldiers for services rendered in the army; being given in lieu of a money payment

In English law. Causes of action or injuries cognizable in the court military, or court of chivalry. 3 Bl. Comm. 103.

Courts whose procedure and composition are modeled upon courts-martial, being the tribunals by which alleged violations of martial law are tried and determined. The membership of s

In England the court of chivalry and courts-martial, in America courts-martial and courts of inquiry, are called by this general name. —-Military feuds. See Feud.

The genuine or original feuds which were in the hands of military men, who performed military duty for their tenures.

The dominion exercised by a general over a conquered state or province. It is a mere application or extension of the force by which the conquest was effected, to the end of keeping

"There are, under the constitution, three kinds of military jurisdiction,—one to be exercised both in peace and war; another to be exercised in time of foreign war without the boun

A system of regulations for the government of an army. 1 Kent, Comm. 341, note. That branch of the laws which respects military discipline and the government of persons employed in

Those offenses which are cognizable by the courts military, as insubordination, sleeping on guard, desertion, etc.

The soldiery of the kingdom of Great Britain.

The various tenures by knight-service, grand-serjeanty, cornage, etc., are frequently called "military tenures," from the nature of the services which they involved. 1 Steph. Comm.

In English law. A nuncupative will, that is, one made by word of mouth, by which a soldier may dispose of his goods, pay, and other pers6nal chattels, without the forma and solemni

Lat. Knights; and, in Scotch law, freeholders.

The body of soldiers in a state enrolled for discipline, but not engaged in actual service except in emergencies, as distinguished from regular troops or a standing army. See Ex pa

1. A machine or engine for grinding, sawing, manufacturing, etc.; also the building containing such machinery. State v. Livermore, 44 N. H. 387; Lambom v. Bell, 18 Colo. 346, 32 Pa

Formerly called the "Penitentiary at Millbank." A prison at Westminster, for convicts under sentence of transportation, until the sentence or order shall be executed or the convict

A trench to convey water to or from a mill. St. 7 Jac. I. c. 19.

This term means merely coined money; and it is not necessary that it should be marked or rolled on the edges. Leach, 708.

the right of A riparian proprietor to erect A Mill on his land and to use the power furnished by the stream for the purpose of operating the mill, with due regard to the rights of

In general, a parcel of land on or contiguous to a water-course, suitable for the erection and operation of a mill operated by the power furnished by the stream. See Occum Co. v. S

The name of a piece of money in the coinage of Portugal, and the Azores and Madeira islands. Its value at the custom-house, according as it is coined in the first, second or third

In old English law. A measure of corn or grain. Cowell; Spelman.

A toll or duty paid for selling corn by the mina. Cowell.

In old records. To mine or dig mines. Minator, a miner. Cowell.

A plowman. Cowell.

4 Coke, 45. He threatens the innocent who spares the guilty.

In Its legal sense, "mind" means only the abliity to will, to direct, to permit or to assent. In this sense, a corporation has a mind, and exerts its mind each time that it assents

A phrase applied to testators, denoting the possession of mental capacity to make a will. In order to make a valid will, the testator must have a sound and disposing mind and memor

A pit or excavation in the earth, from which metallic ores or other mineral substances are. token by digging. Webster; Marvel v. Merritt, 116 U. S. 11, 6 Sup. Ct 207, 29 L. Ed. 550

One who mines; a digger for metals and other minerals. While men of scientific attainments or of experience in the use of machinery, are to be found in this class, yet the word by

adj. Relating to minerals or the process and business of mining; bearing or producing valuable minerals. —Mineral district. A term occasionally used in acts of congress, designatin

A term occasionally used in acts of congress, designating in a general way those portions or regions of the country where valuable minerals are mostly found, or where the business

Filing a claim to hold or purchase lands belonging to the public domain and valuable for the minerals they contain, implying a prior discovery of ore and the opening of a mine. U.