Black's Law Dictionary

In the English telegraph act of 1863, the word is defined as "a wire or wires used for the purpose of telegraphic communication, with any casing, coating, tube or pipe inclosing th

A word occasionally used in old English law to describe ancient documents or written evidence of things past. Blount.

In a general sense, the name "telephone" applies to any Instrument or apparatus which transmits sound beyond the limits of ordinary audibllity. But, since the recont discoveries in

One who numbers or counts. An officer of a bank who receives or pays out money. Also one appointed to count the votes cast in a deliberative or legislative assembly or other meetin

In the language of parliament, the "tellers" are ithe members of the house selected to count the members when a division takes place. In the house of lords a division is effected b

An Anglo-Saxon charter of land. 1 Reeve, Eng. Law, c. 1, p. 10.

That labor which a tenant was bound to do for his lord for a certain number of days.

A tax of two shillings upon every plow-land, a decennary.

Lat. In the civil law. Rashly ; inconsiderately. A pluintiff was said temere litigare who demanded a thing out of malice or sued without just cause, and who could show no ground or

A violent or furious storm; a current of wind rushing with extreme violence, and usually accompanied with rain or snow. See Stover v. Insurance Co., 3 Phlla. (Pat) 39; Thistle v. U

A religious order of knighthood, instituted about the year 1119, and so called because the members dwelt in a part of the temple of Jerusalem, and not far from the sepulcher of our

Two English inns of court, thus called because anciently the dwelling place of the Knights Templar. On the suppression of the order, they were purchased by some professors of the c

Lat. In the civll law. Temporary; limited to a certain time. -Temporalis actio. An action which could only be brought within a certain period. —Temporalis exceptio. A temporary exc

A temporary exception which barred an action for a time only.

In English law. The lay fees of bishops, with which their churches are endowed or permitted to be endowed by the liberality of the sovereign, and in virtue of which they become bar

The laity; secular people.

The peers of England ; the bishops are not in strictness held to be peers, but merely lords of parliament 2 Steph. Comm. 330, 345.

That which is to last for a limited time only, as distinguished from that which is perpetual or indefinite, in its duration. Thus, temporary alimony is granted for the support of t

A preliminary or provisional injunction, or one granted pendente lite; as opposed to a final or perpetual injunction. Jesse French Piano Co. v. Porter, 134 Ala. 302, 32 South. 678,

Lat. In the time of. Thus, the volume called "Cases tempore Holt" is a collection of cases adjudged in the king's bench during the time of Lord Holt Wall. Rep. 398.

Lat In the civll law. A plea of time; a plea of lapse of time, in bar of an action. Corresponding to the plea of prescription, or the statute of limitations, in our law. See Mackel

In the civil law. A profitable or advantageous period of time. A term which begins to run from a certain event, only when he for whom it runs has obtnined a knowledge of the event,

Lat. In the civil and old English law. Time in general. A time limited ; a season; e. y., tempus pessonis, mast time in the forest —Tempus continuum. In the civil law. A continuous

In the civil law. A continuous or absolute period of time. A term which begins in run from a certain event, even though he for whom it runs has no knowledge of the event, and in wh

For time is a means of destroying obligations and actions, because time runs against the slothful and contemners of their own rights. Fleta, 1. 4, c. 5, § 12.

In old English law. The period of six months or half a year, consisting of one hundred and eighty-two days. Cro. Jac. 166.

Is the relation of a tenant to the land which he holds. Hence it signifies (1) the estate of a tenant, as in the expressions "joint tenancy," "tenancy in common;" (2) the term or i

This is the least and lowest estate which can subsist in realty. It is in strictness not an estate, but a mere possession only. It arises when a person, after his right to the occu

In the broadest sense, one who holds or possesses lands or tenements by any kind of right or title, whether in fee, for life, for years, at will or otherwise. Cowell. In a more res

Such a repair as will render a house fit for present habitation.

L. Fr. A tenant at will.

One who, on the death of his wife seised of an estate of inheritance, after having by her issue born alive and capable of inheriting her estate, holds the lands and tenements for t

One who has a less -estate than a fee in land which remain in the reversioner. He is so called because in avowries and other pleadings it is specially shown, In what manner he is t

A species of copyholder, who holds by the virge or rod.

One who holds lands or tenements for the term of his own life, or for that of any other person, (in which case he is calied "pur auter vie,") or for more lives than one. 2 Bl. Comm

One who has the temporary use and possession of lands or tenements not his own, by virtue of a lease or demise granted to him by the owner, for a determinate period of time, as for

One who holds lands or tenements under the demise of another, where no certain term has been mentioned, but an annual rent has been reserved. See 1 Steph. Comm. 271; 4 Kent, Comm.

In feudal and old English law. Tenant in chief; one who held immediately under the king, in right of his crown and dignity. 2 Bl. Comm. 60.

Tenants in common are generally defined to be such as hold the same land together by several and distinct titles, but by unity of possession, because none knows his own severalty,

This is where the husbsnd of a woman is seised of an estate of inheritance and dies ; in this case the wife shall bave the third part of ali the lands and tenements whereof he was

he who holds lauds and tenements in his own right only, without any other person being joined or connected with him in point of interest during his estate therein. 2 Bl. Comm. 179,

One who holds an estate in fee-tail, that is, an estate which, by the instrument creating it, is limited to some particular heirs, exclusive of others ; as to the heirs of his body

Where an owner of lands, upon or previously to marrying a wife, settled lands upon himself and his wife, and the heirs of their two bodies begotten, and then died, the wife, as sur

One who is tenant of a mesne lord; as, where A. is tenant of B., and C. of A., B. is the lord, A. the mesne lord, and C. tenant of the demesne. Ham. N.. P. 392, 393.

The under-tenant of land ; that is, the tenant of a tenant; one who held of a mesne lord.

1. A kind of customary estate in. the north of England, falling under the general class of copyhold, but distinguished from copyhold by many of its incidente. 2. The so-called tena

This phrase signifies things which are fixed to the freehold of the demised premises, but which the tenant may detach and take away, provided he does se in season. Wall v. Hinds, 4

Before the English fines and recoveries act, if land was conveyed to a person for life with remainder to another in tnil, the tenant in tail in remainder was unable to bar the enta

In Ft. A dispute; a quarrel. Kelham.

In old English law. To tender or offer. Cowell.

An offer of money; the act' by which one produces and offers to a person holding a claim or demand against him the amount of money which he considers and admits to be due, in satis

An offer by a person who has been guilty of any wrong or breach of contract to pay a sum of money by way of amends. If a defendant in an action make tender of amends, and the plain

A form of words in a pleading, by which a party offers to refer the question raised upon it to the appropriate mode of decision. The common tender of an issue of fact by a defendan

This term, in its vulgar acceptation, ls only applied to houses and other buildings, but in its original, proper, and legal sense it signifies everything that may be holden, provid

Land dlstrib-uted by a lord among his tenants, as opposed to the demesnes which were occupied by himself and his servants. 2 BI. Comm. 90.

An ancient writ, lying to the city of London or any other corporation, (where the old custom was that men might devise by will lands and tenements, as well as goods and chattels,)

In Scotch law. The name of a clause in charters of heritable rights, which derives its name from Its first worths, "tenendas prœdictas terras;" it points out the superior of 'whom

Lat To hold; to be holden. The name of that formal part of a deed which ls characterized by the words "to hold." It was formerly used to express the tenure by which the estate gran

A tenant; the defendant in a real action.

One that comes into the possession of land by lawful title, but holds over by wrong, after the determination of his interest. 4 Kent, Comm. 116; 2 Bi. Comm. 150; Fielder v. Childs,

A writ that formerly lay for him to whom a disseisor had alienated the land whereof he disseised another, that he should not be molested in assize for damages, if the disseisor had

Lat In the civil law. To hold; to hold fast; to have in possession; to retain. In relation to the doctrine of possession, this term expresses merely the fact of manual detention, o

The Latin name for that clause in a bond in which the obligor expresses that he is "held and firmly bound" ito the obligee, his heirs, etc.

Lat He holds; he held. In the Latin forms of the writ of waste against a tenant, these words introduced the allegation of tenure. If the tenancy still existed, and recovery of the

In old English law. A dean. Cowell.

The number of ten men, which number, in the time of the Saxons, was called a "decennary;" and ten decennaries made what was called a "hundred." Also a duty or tribute paid to the c

A term of heraldry, meaning orange color. In engravings it should be represented by lines in bend sinister crossed by others bar-ways. Heralds who blazon by the names of the heaven

Wright, Ten. 2L Tenure is a compact contrary to the common nature and reason of the fee, put into a contract.

A term used in pleading to denote that an exact copy is set out. 1 Chit Crim. Law, 235. By the tenor of a deed, or other instrument in writing, is signified the matter contained th

A writ whereby the record of an indictment, and the process thereupon, was calied out of another court into the queen's bench. Reg. Orig. 69.

By the tenor of these presents, i. e., the matter contained therein or rather the intent and meaning thereof. Cowell,

It ls the tenor [of the feudal grant] which regulates its effect and extent Craigius, Jus Feud. (3d Ed.) 66; Broom, Max; 459.

A sort of ancient tax or military contribution. Wharton.

The essay or assay of bread. Blount.

In English law. The statute 9 Geo. IV. c. 14, taking its name from Lord Tenterden, who procured its enactment, which is a species of extension of the statute of frauds, and require

In English law. A temporary aid issuing out of personal property, and granted to the king by parliament; formerly the real tenth part of ali the movables belonging to the subject.

A term used in stating the tenure in an action for waste done after the termination of the tenancy. See Tenet.

In old English law. Tenure,

The mode or system of holding lands or tenements in subordination to some superior, which, in the feudal ages, was the leading characteristic of reui property. Tenure ls the direct

where an ecclesiastical corporation, sole or aggregate, holds land by a certain divine service; as, to say prayers on a certain day in every year, "or to distribute in aimes to an

In Scotch law. Dower; a widow's right of dower or a right to a llfe-estate in a third part of the lands of which her husband died seised.

In Scotch law. A widow that possesses the third part of her husband's land, as her legal jointure, 1 Kames, Eq. pref.

A term applied in the West Indies to a person one of whose parents was white and the other a mulatto. See Daniel v. Guy, 19 Ark. 131.

A word or phrase; an expression; particularly one which possesses a fixed and known meaning in some science, art or profession. In the civil law. A space of time granted to a debto

See Attendant Terms.

Terms of the law. The name of a lexicon of the law French words and other technicalities of legal language in old times.

In English practice. A certain sum which a solicitor is entitled to charge to his client, and the client to recover, if successful, from the unsuccessful party; payable for every t

By "term for deliberating" is understood the time given to the beneficiary heir, to examine if it be for his interest to accept or reject the succession which has fallen to him. Ci

An estate for years and the time during which such estate is to be heid are each calied a "term;" hence the term may expire before the time, as by a surrender. Co. litt. 45.

This name is sometimes given to property of such a nature that its duration is not perpetual or indefinite, but is limited or liable to terminate upon the happening of an event or

Societies, in England, where the members commence their monthly contributions on a particular day, and continue to pay them until the realization of shares to a given amount for ca

L. Fr. To determine. See Over and Terminer.

A term of years is said to be either in gross (outstanding) or attendant upon the inheritance. It is outstanding, or in gross, when it is unattached or disconnected from the estate

Lat Ends; bounds; limiting or terminating points.

In Spanish law. A common ; common land. Common because of vicinage. White, New Recop. b. 2, tit. 1, c. 6, § 1, note.

A day given to a defendant Spelman.

Boundary; a limit, either of space or time. The phrases "terminus a quo" and "terminus ad quem" are used, respectively, to designate the storting point and terminating point of a p

In English ecclesiastical practice. A time for the determination of appeals, shorter than the terminus juris, appointed by the judge. Halllfax, Civil Law, b. 3, c. 11, no. 36.

In English ecclesiastical practice. The time of one or two years, allowed by law for the determination of appeals. Hallifax, Civll Law, b. 3, c. 11, no. 38.

The word "term," when used in connection with a lease, means the period which is granted for the lessee to occupy the premises, and does not include the time between the making of