Black's Law Dictionary

For the plaintiff.

Proportionately; according to a certain rate, percentage or proportion. Thus, the creditors (of the same class) of an insolvent estate are to be paid pro rata; that is, each is to

To divide, share or distribute proportionally; to assess or apportion pro rata. Formed from the Latin phrase "pro rata," and said to be a recognized English word. Rosenberg v. Fran

For the affair immediately in hand; adapted to meet the particular occasion. Thus, a course of judicial action adopted under pressure of the exigencies of the affair in hand, rathe

In Scotch law. A power cohferred by consent of the parties upon a judge who wouid not otherwise be competent.

Prolonging or putting off to another day. In English law, a prorogation is the continuance of the parliament from one session to another, as an adjournment is a continuation of the

To direct suspension ot proceedings of parliament; to terminate a session.

For the good of his soul. All prosecutions in the ecclesiastical courts are pro salute anima; hence it will not be a temporal damage founding an action for slander that the words s

In the civil law. Among the Romans, a man was said to be "proscribed" when a reward was offered for his head; but the term was more usually applied to those who were sentenced to s

For himself; in his own behalf ; in person.

To follow up; to carry on an action or other judicial proceeding; to proceed against a person criminally.

The name of the public officer (in several states) who is appointed in each judicial district, circuit, or county, to conduct criminal prosecutions on behalf of the state or people

This name is given to the private person upon whose complaint or information a criminni accusation is founded and whose testimony is mainly relied on to secure a conviction at the

In criminni law. A criminal action; a proceeding instituted and carried on by due course of law, before a competent tribunal, for the purpose of determining the guilt or innocence

In practice. He who prosecutes another for a crime in the name of the government. —Private prosecutor. One who seta in motion the machinery of criminal justice against a person who

This name is given, in New Jersey, to the county officer who is charged with the prosecution of criminal actions, corresponding to the "district attorney" or "county attorney" in o

In criminni law. A female prosecutor.

Lat To follow up or pursue ; to sue or prosecute. See Nolle Prosequi.

Lat. He follows up or pursues; he prosecutes. See Non Pros.

Lat. In the civll law. A father-in-law's father; grandfather of wife.

Lat In the civll law. A wife's grandmother.

For a partner; the name of an action in behalf of a partner. A title of the civll law. Dig. 17, 2; Cod. 4, 37.

For the whole; as one; jointly; without division. Dig. 50, 17, 141,1.

Looking forward; contemplating the future. A law la said to be prospective (as opposed to retrospective) when it is applicable only in cases which shall arise after its enactment.

Damages which are expected to follow from the act or state of facte made the basis of a plaintiff's suit; damages which have not yet accrued, at the time of the trini, but which, i

A document published by a company or corporation, 'or by persons acting as its agents or assignees, setting forth the nature and objects of an issue of shares, debentures or other

A woman who indiscriminately consorts with men for hire. Carpenter v. Pcople, 8 Barb. (N. Y.) 611; State v, Stoyell, 54 Me, 24, 89 Am. Dec. 716.

Common lewdness; whoredoni; the act or practice of a woman who permits any man who wlll pay her price to have Bexual intercourse with her. See Com. v. Cook, 12 Mete. (Mass.) 97.

For so much; for as much as may be; as far as it goes.

In English law. A writ by which the king might, by a special prerogative, privilege a defendant from ail personui and many real suits for one year at a time, and no longer, in resp

The English statute 33 Edw. I. St. 1, allowing a challenge to be entered against a protection, etc.

The statute 33 & 34 Viet. c. 27. By this act It is provided that the exhibition of new inventions shall not prejudice patent rights, and that the exhibition of designs shall not pr

In English practice. An order for the protection of the wife's property, when the husband has wlll-fully deserted her, issuable by the divorce court under statutes on that subject.

Protection draws with it subjecting, and subjection protection. 7 Coke, 5a. The protection of an individual by government is on condition of his submission to the laws, and such su

A law imposing dnties on imports, with the purpose and the effect of discouraging the use of products of foreign origin, and consequently of stimulating the home production of the

(1) The period during which Ollver Cromwell ruled in England. (2) Also the office of protector. (3) The relation of the English sovereign, till the year 1864, to the Ionian Islands

In English law. By the statute 3 & 4 Wm. IV. c. 74, § 32, power is given to any settlor to appoint any person or persons, not exceeding three, the "protector of the settlement." Th

For the time being; temporarily; provisionally.

I. A formal declaration made by a person interested or concerned in some act about to be done or already performed, and in relation thereto, whereby he expresses his dissent or dis

L. Lat Protesting. The emphatic word formerly used in pleading by way of protestation. 3 Bl. Co.min. 311. See Protestation.

Those who adhered to the doctrine of Luther; so called because, in 1529, they protested against a decree of the emperor Charles V. and of the diet of Spires, and declared that they

In pleading. The indirect affirmation or denial of the truth of some matter which cannot with propriety or safety be positively affirmed, denied or entirely passed over. See 3 Bl.

The title given to an officer who officiates as principal clerk of seme courts. Vin. Abr. See Trebilcox v. McAlplne, 46 Hun (N. Y.) 469; Whitney v. Hopkins, 135 Pa. 246, 19 Atl. 10

The first draft or rough minutes of an instrument or transaction; the original copy of a dispatch, treaty or other document. Brande. A document serving as the preliminary to or ope

In Spanish law. The original draft or writing of an instrument which remains in the possession of the es-oribano or notary. White, New Recop. llb. 8, tit 7, c. 5, § 2. The term "pr

Lat In the civll law. He who, not being the tutor of a minor, has administered his property or affairs as if he had bsen, whether he thought himself legui-ly invested with the auth

As appears by the record. In the Latin phraseology of pleading, this was the proper formula for making reference to a record.

In Fr. Provable; justifiable ; manifest Kelham.

To establish a fact or hypothesis as true by satisfactory and sufficient evidence. To present a claim or demand against a bankrupt or insolvent estate, and establish by evidence or

In old English law. A person who; on being indicted of treason or felony, and arraigned for the same, confessed the fact before plea pleaded, and appealed or accused others, his ac

The word used in introducing a proviso (which see.) Ordinarily it signifies or expresses a condition; but this is not invariable, for, according to the context, it may import a cov

Sometimes this signifies the district into which a country has been dlvld ed; as, the province of Canterbury, in England ; the province of Languedoc, In France. Sometimes it means

The decrees of provincial synods held under divers archbishops of Canterbury, from Stephen Langton, in the reign of Henry III., to Henry Chichele, in the reign of Henry V., and ado

In English law. The several archl-episcopal courts in the two ecclesiastical provinces of England.

A work on ecclesias-itical law, by William Lyndwode, official principal to Archbishop Chichele in the reign of Edward IV. 4 Reeve, Eng. Law, c. 25, p. 117.

Lat In the civll law. One who has his domicile in a province. Dig. 50, 16, 190.

To forswear the country. Spelman.

In Scotch practice. An action for proving the tenor of a lost deed. Bell.

In commercial law. Funds remitted by the drawer of a bill of exchange to the drawee in order to meet the bill, or property remaining in the drawee's hands or due from him to the dr

Temporary; preliminary; tentative; taken or done by way of precaution or ad interim. —Provisional assignees. In the former practice in bankruptcy in England. Assignees to whom the

In the former practice in bankruptcy in England. Assignees to whom the property of a bankrupt was assigned until the regular or permanent assignees were appointed by the creditors.

A committee appointed for a temporary occasion.

One temporarily established in anticipation of and to exist and continue until another (more regular or more permanent) shall be organized and instituted in its stead. Chambers v.

Another name for a preliminary or temporary injunction or an injunction pendente lite.

In English law. Under various acts of parliament, certain public bodies and departments of the government are authorized to inquire into matters which, in the ordinary course, coul

A remedy provided for present need or for the immediate occasion; one adapted to meet a particular exigency. Particularly, a temporary process available to a plaintiff in a civil a

A remedy known under the law of Louisiana, and substantially the same in general nature as attachment of property in other states. Code Proc. La. 284, et seq.

Lat In English history. Those acts of parliament which were passed to curb the arbitrary power of the crown. See Provision.

Food; victuals; articles of food for human consumption. See Bot-elor v. Washington, 3 Fed. Cas. 962; In re Lentz (D. C.) 97 Fed. 487; Nash v. Farrington, 4 Allen (Mass.) 157; State

Another name for the statute of Merton. See Merton , Statute OF.

Certain provisions made in the Parliament of Oxford, 1258, for the purpose of securing the execution of the provisions of Magna Charta, against the invasions thereof by Henry III.

A name given to certain ordinances or declarations promulgated by the barons in A. D. 1259, for the reform of various abuses.

A condition or provlaion which is inserted in a deed, lease, mortgage or contract, and on the performanco or nonperformance of which the validity of the deed, etc., frequently depe

In old English law. A provider or purveyor. Spelman. Also a person nominated to be the next incumbent of a benefice (not yet vacant) by the pope.

The act of inciting another to do a particular deed. Such conduct or actions on the part of one person towards another as tend to arouse rage, resentment, or fury in the latter aga

The principal magistrate of a royal burgh in Scotland; also a governing officer of a university or college,

In English law. An officer of the royal navy who had the charge of prisoners taken at sea, and sometimes also on land. In military law, the officer acting as the head of the milita

Lat In the civil law. A broker; one who negotiated or arranged the terms of a contract betwcen two parties, as between buyer and seller; one who negotiated a marriage; a match-make

Immediate; nearest; next in order. —Proximate cause. The proximate cause is the efficient cause, the one that necessarily seta the other causes in operation. The causes that are me

The proximate cause is the efficient cause, the one that necessarily seta the other causes in operation. The causes that are merely incidental or instruments of a superior or contr

See Damages.

Kindred between two persens. Dig. 38, 16, 8.

He is next whom no one precedes; he is last whom no one follows. Dig. 50, 16, 92.

A person who is substituted or deputed by another to represent him and act for him, particularly in some meeting or public body. Also the instrument containing the appointment of s

In old English law. An officer next in authority to the alderman of a hundred, called "prœpositus regius;" or a steward or bailiff of an estate, answering to the "wicnere." Also th

A church-reeve, or warden. Spelman,

A constable of a town, or petty constable.

Lat. In Roman law. Forms of words (of a qualifying character) inserted in the formulœ in which the claims in actions were expressed; and, as they occupied an early place in the for

Lat. In Roman law. A president or governor. Called a "nomen generale," including pro-consuls, legates, and all who governed provinces.

The presumption should be in favor of the justice of a sentence. Best, Ev. Introd. 42.

Lat. In Roman law. "Prœsfare" meant to make good, and, when used in conjunction with the words "dare," "faeere," "oportere," denoted obligations of a personal character, as opposed

Prevention is better than cure. Co. Litt. 304b.

The presumption is in favor of legitimacy. 1 BL Comm. 457; 5 Coke, 98b.

It ls presumed for the negative. The rule of the house of lords when the numbers are equal on a motion. Wharton.

Lat. Presumption; a presumption. Also intrusion or the unlawful taking of anything. —Præsumptio fortior. A strong presumption ; a presumption of fact entitled to great weight. One

A strong presumption ; a presumption of fact entitled to great weight. One which determines the tribunal in its belief of an alleged fact, without, however, excluding the belief of

The presumption of the man or individual ; that is, natural presumption unfettered by strict rule.

A legal presumption or presumption of law ; that is, one in which the law assumes the existence or something until it is disproved by evidence; a conditional, inconclusive, or rebu

A presumption of law and of right; a presumption which the law will not suffer to be contradicted; a conclusive or irrebuttable presumption.

In Roman law. A presumption of law that property in the hands of a wife came to her as a girt from her husband and was not acquired from other sources; available only la doubtful c