Black's Law Dictionary

L. Fr. The neighborhood; vicinage; venue. Ex parte McNeeley, 36 W. Va. 84, 14 S. E 436, 15 In R. A. 226, 32 Am. St. Rep. 831; State v. Kemp, 34 Minn. 61, 24 N. W. 349.

In old English law. Force used between parties contending for a possession.

Immediate force. See Vis Impressa.

In old English law. Simple or mere force. Distinguished by Bracton from "vis armata," and also from "vis expulsiva." Bract, fol. 162.

Lat. In old English practice. View; inspection, either of a place or person.

To impair; to make void or voidable; to cause to fail of force or effect; to destroy or annul, either entirely or in part, the legal efficacy and binding force of an act or instrum

To litigate cavilously, vexatiously or from merely quarrelsome motives.

In Scotch law. An unwarrantable intermeddling with the movable estate of a person deceased, without the order of law. Ersk. Prin. b. 3, tit. 9, § 25. The irregular intermeddling wi

In old English law. The mistake of a clerk; a clerical error.

Jenk. Cont. 23. A clerical error ought not to hurt

Ellesm. Post. N. 86-It is a fault which ought to be avoided, that lf you cannot discover the reason you shonid presently exclaim that the law is without reason.

In old English law. The fault or mistake of a writer or copyist; a clerical error. Gilb. Forum Rom. 185.

Lat In the civil law. A step-father; a mother's second husband. Calvin.

Lat. In the civil law. Living water; running water; that which issues from a spring or fountain. Calvin.

Lat Cattle, which obtained this name from being received during the Saxon period as money upon most occasions, at certain regulated prices. CowelL

Lat In the clvli law. An inclosed place, where live wild animals are kept. Calvin; Spelman.

In English law. A place for keeping wild animals alive, including fishes; a fish pond, park or warren.

Lat With the living voice; by word of mouth. As-applied to the examination of witnesses, this phrase is equivalent to "orally." It is used in contradistinction to evidence on affid

See Vadium.

Scarcely any law can be made which is adapted to all, but, lf it provide for the greater part, it is useful. Plowd. 869. '

A contraction for videlicet, to-wit, namely, that is to say.

Lat Words of art; technical terms.

Terms of arte are to be explained according to the definitions of the learned or skilled [in such arts.] Bl. Law Tracts, 6.

In feudal law. To summon to court. Feud. Lib. 2, tit 22.

Lat A summoning to court. In the earlier practice of the Roman law, (under the lepis actiones,) the creditor orally called upon his debtor to go with him before the prætor for the

Lat In old English law. Outcry; hue and cry. Cowell.

Lat. In the civll and old English law. I call; I summon; I vouch. In jus voco te, I summon you to court; I summon you before the prætor. The formula by which a Roman action was anc

Null; ineffectual; nugatory; having no legal force or binding effect; unable, in law, to support the purpose for which it was intended. "Void" does not always imply entire nullity;

That may be avoided or declared void; not absolutely void or void in itself. Most of the acts of infants are voidable only, and not absolutely void. 2 Kent, Comin. 234. See Void.

The act of emptying; ejection from a benefice,

Curtis v. Leavitt, 15 N. Y. 9, 96.

Such as was issued without power in the court to award it, or which the court had not acquired jurisdiction to issue in the particular case, or which fails in some material respect

People v. Shall, 9 Cow. (N. Y.) 778, 784.

L. Fr. To speak the truth. This phrase denotes the preliminary examination which the court may make of one presented as a witness or juror, where his competency, interest, etc., is

Fr. Carriage; transportation by carriage,

Lat Willing. He is said to be willing who either expressly consents or tacitly makes no opposition. Calvin.

He who consents cannot receive an injury. Broom, Max. 268, 269, 271, 395; Shelf. Mar. & Div. 449; Wing. Max. 482 ; 4 Term R. 657.

He willed, but he did not say. He may have intended so, but he did not say so. A maxim frequently used in the construction of wills, In answer to arguments based upon the supposed

Lat. In the civil law. A volume; se calied from its form, being rolled up.

Lat We will; it is our will. The first word of a clause in the royal writs of protection and letters patent. Cowell.

A voluntary madman. A term applied by Lord Coke to a drunkard, who has voluntarily contracted madness by intoxication. Co.. Litt 247 ; 4 Bl. Comm. 25.

Free; without compulsion or solicitation. Without consideration; without valuable consideration; gratuitous. —'Voluntary courtesy. A voluntary act of kindness; an act of kindness p

An assignment for the benefit of his creditors made by a debtor voluntarily; as distinguished from a compulsory assignment which takes place by operation of law in proceedings in b

A conveyance without valuable consideration; such as a deed or settlement in. favor of a wife or children. See Gentry v. Field, 148 Mo. 399, 45 S. W. 286; Trumbull v. Hewitt, 62 Co

This exists where a party might, by taking reasonable pains, have acquired the necessary knowledge, but has neglected to do so. As to volimtary "Answer," "Assignment," "Bankruptcy,

In English law. A jurisdiction exercised by certain ecclesiastical courts, in matters where there is no opposition. 3 Bi. Comm. 66. The opposite of contentious jurisdiction, (g. v.

In criminal law. Manslaughter committed voluntarily upon a sudden heat of the passions; as if, upon a sudden quarrel, two persons fight, and one of them kills the other. 4 Bl. Comm

Such as a person may lake in extrajudicial matters, and not regularly in a court of justice, or before an officer invested with authority to administer the same. Brown

A payment made by a debtor of his own will and choice, as distinguished from one exacted from him by process of execution or other compulsion. Redmond v. New York, 125 N. Y. 632, 2

when a mortgagee receives the sum due into his own hands, and discharges the mortgage, without any consignation. Bell.

One made freely, without constraint, by the owner of the thing sold. 1 Bouv. Inst. no. 074.

A settlement of property upon a wife or other beneficiary, made gratuitously or without valuable consideration.

An obligation arising out of a personal confidence reposed in, and voluntarily accepted by, one for the benefit of another, as distinguished from an "involuntary" trust, which is c

Lat Properly, volition, purpose or intention or a design or the feeling or impulse which prompts the commission of an act; but in old English law the term was often used to denote

Co. Litt. 21. The will of the donor manifestly expressed in hla deed of gift is to be observed.

A will is an exact opinion or determination concorning that which cach one wishes to be done after his death.

The will and the proposed end distinguish Crimea Bract, fols. 2b, 136b.

Dig. 30, 1, 12, 3. It is intention which gives effort to the wording of a will.

2 Inst. 57. In crimes, the will, and not the consequence, is looked to.

The intention is to be taken for the deed. 3 Inst 69; Broom, Max. 311.

4 Coke, 61. The will of a testator is ambulatory until the latest moment of life.

Jenk. Cent. 260. The intention of a testator has a broad and benignant interpretation.

Co.. Litt. 322. The last wlll of the testator is to be fulfilled according to his true intention.

In conveyancing, one who holds a title under a voluntary conveyance, i. e., one made without consideration, good or valuable, to support it. A person who gives his services without

Suffrage; the expression of his will, preference or choice, formally manifested by a member of a legislative or deliberative body or of a constituency or a body of qualified electo

One who has the right of giving his voice or suffrage.

In the houses of parliament the clerks at the tables make brief entries of all that is actually done; and these minutes, which are printed from day to day for the use of membars, a

Lat. A vow or promise. Dies votorum, the wedding dav. Fleta 1. 1, c. 4.

To call upon; to call in to warranty; to call upon the grantor or warrantor to defend the title to an estate. To vouch is to call upon, rely on, or quote as an authority. Thus, in

In common recoveries, the person who is called to warrant or defend the title is called the "vouchee." 2 Bouv. Inst, no. 2093. —Common vonehee. In common recoveries, the person who

A receipt, acquittanco or release, which may serve as evidence of payment or discharge of a debt or to cortify the correctness of acoounts. An account-book contuining the acquittan

The calling one who has warranted lands, by the party warranted, to come and defend the suit for him. Co. Litt 101b.

The spoken word flies; the written letter remains. Broom, Max. 666.

In Scotch practice. An emphatic or essential word. 2 Alia Crim. Pr. 280.

In maritime law. The passing of a vessel by sea from one place, port or country to another. The term is held to include the enterprise entered upon, and not merely the route. Frien

In insurance law. A transit at sea from the terminus a quo to the terminus ad quem, in a prescribed course of navigation, which is never set out in any policy, but virfually forms

A policy of marine insurance effected for a particular voyage or voyages of the vessel, and not otherwise limited as to time. Wilkins v. Tobacco Ins. Co., 30 Ohio St. 339, 27 Am. R

Seaweed. It is used in great quantities by the inhabitants of Jersey and Guernsey for manure, and also for fuel by the poorer classes.

An abbreviation for versus, (against constantly used in legal proceedings, and especially in entitling cases.

4 Coke, 107. Common opiuion is of two kinds, viz., that which arises among grave and discreet men, which has much truth in it, and that which arises among light and common men, wit

Lat In old English law. Common purgation; a name given to the trial by ordeal, to distinguish it from the canonical purgation, which was by the oath of the party. 4 Bl. Comm. 342.

Lat In the civll law. Spurious children; bastards.

Lat In the civll law. Spurious children; literally, gotten from the pcople; the offspring of promiscuous cohabitation, who are considered as having no father. Inst. 3, 4, 3; Id. 3,

As an abbreviation, this letter frequently stands for "William," (king of England,) "Westminster," "west," or "western."

L. Fr. A vagabond or vagrant. Britt C. 29.

In Scotch law. The old term for a mortgage. A right by which lands or other heritable subjects are impignorated by the proprietor to his creditor in security of his debt. Wadsets a

In Scotch law. A creditor to whom a wadset is made, corresponding to a mortgagee,

Conductors of vessels at sea. Cowell.

In old English law. A weigh; a measure of cheese, salt, wool, etc., containing two hundred and fifty-six pounds avoirdupois. Cowell; Spelman.

In old English practice. To give security for the performance of a thing. Cowell.

One who earns his living by labor of a menial or mechanical kind or performed in a subordinate capacity, such as domestic servants, mechanics, farm bands, clerks, orters, and messe

A wager is a contract by which two or more parties agree that a certain sum of money or other thing shall be paid or de-llvered to one of them on the happening of an uncortain even

One in which the parties stipulate that they shall gain or lose, upon the happehing of an uncertain event, in which they have no interest except that arising from the possibility o

In old English law. A form of trial anciently used in military cases, arising in the court of chivalry and honor, in appeals of felony, in criminal cases, and in the obsolete rcal

In old practice. The giving of gage or sureties by a defendant in an action of debt that at a certain day assigned he would make his law; that is, would take an oath in open court

The mode in which a tenant or defendant in a real action pleaded, when the summons which followed the original was not served within the proper time.

An insurance upon a subj'ect-matter in which the party assured has no real, valuable, or insurable interest. A mere wager policy is that in which the party assured has no interest

The compensation agreed upon by a master to be paid to a servant or any other person hfred to do work or business for him. In maritime law. The compensation allowed to seamen for t

A common vehicle for the transportation of goods, wares, and merchandise of all descriptions. The term does not include a hackney-coach. Quigley v. Gorham, 5 Cal. 418, 63 Am. Dec.

Waifs are goods found, but claimed by nobody; that of which every one waives the claim. Also, goods stolen and waived or thrown away by the thief In his flight, for fear of being a