Black's Law Dictionary

The official counting or enumeration of the people of a state or nation, with statistics of wealth, commerce, education, etc. Huntington v. Cast, 149 Ind. 255, 48 N. E. 1025; Repub

In English law. The annuui revenue or income of the crown.

A coin of the United States, the least in value of those now minted. It is the one-hundreth part of a dollar. Its weight is 72 gr., and it is composed of copper and nickel in the r

A hundred. A district or division containing originally a hundred freemen, established among the Goths, Germans, Franks, and Lombards, for military and civll purposes, and answerin

Petty judges, under-sheriffs of counties, that had rule of a hundred, (centena,) and judged smaller matters among them. 1 Vent. 211.

The principal inhabitants of a centena or district composed of different villages, originally in number a hundred, but afterwards only called by that name.

In Roman law. The hundredth part. Usuries centesim,œ. Twelve per cent, per annum; that is, a hundredth part of the principal was due each month,—the month being the unit of time fr

The name of a denomination of French money, being the one-hundredth part of a franc.

An English court, having jurisdiction for the trial of crimes and misdemeanors committed in London and certain adjoining parts of Kent, Essex, and Sussex, and of such other crimina

This word is used to express the system of government prevailing in a country where the management of local matters is in the hands of functionaries appointed by the ministers of s

The central office of the supreme court of judicature in England is the office established in pursuance of the recommendation of the legal departments commission in order to consol

In Roman law. The name of an important court consisting of a body of one hundred and five judges. It was made up by choosing three representatives from each of the thirty-five Roma

One hundred. A body of one hundred men. The Romans were divided into centuries, as the English were divided into hundreds. Also a cycle of one hundred years.

In Anglo Saxon law. The freemen were divided into two classes,—thanes and ceorls. The thanes were the proprietors of the soil, which was entirely at their disposal. The ceorls were

Lat. I have taken. This word was of frequent use in the returns of sheriffs when they were made in Latin, and particularly in the return to a writ of capias. The full return (in La

In civil practice. He took. This was the characteristic word employed in (Latin) writs of trespass for goods taken, and in declarations in trespass and replevin. Replevin in the ce

He took and led away. The empbatic words in writs in trespass or indictments for larceny, where the thing taken was a living chattel, i. e., an animal.

In pleading. A plea in replevin, by which the defendant alleges that he took the thing replevied in another place than that mentioned in the declaration. 1 Chit. PI. 490.

In old English law. The stumps or roots of trees which remain in the ground after the trees are felled. Fleta, lib. 2, c. 41, § 24.

In old English law. A payment to provide candles In the church. Blount.

Lat. An impressed seal. It does not necessarily refer to an impression on wax, but may include an impression made on wafers or other adhesive substances capable of receiving an Imp

In old English law. Wax; a seal.

In old English law. Ale or beer.

The design and narration ought to be certain, and the foundation certain, and the matter certain, which is brought into court to be tried. Co. Litt 303a.

Ascertained; precise; identified; definitive; clearly known; unambiguous; or, in law, capable of being identified or made known, without liability to mistake or ambiguity, from1 da

In feudal and old English law. Such services as were stinted (limited or defined) in quantity, and could not be exceeded on any pretense; as to pay a stated annual rent, or to plow

In pleading. Distinctness ; clearness of statement; particularity. Such precision and explicitness in the statement of alleged facts that the pleader's averments and contention may

In old English law. A certain thing. Fleta, lib. 2, c. 60, §§ 24, 25.

In English law. A writ commanding the mayor of the staple to certify to the lord chancellor a statute-staple token before him where the party himself detains it, and refuses to bri

A written assurance or official representation, that some act has or has not been done or some event occurred or some legal formality been complied with. Particularly, such written

A creditor of a municipal corporation who receives a certificate of indebtedness for the amount of his claim, there being no funds on hand to pay him. Johnson v. New Orleans, 46 La

In English practice. A certificate or memorandum drawn up and signed by the judge before whom a case was tried, setting out certain facts the existence of which must be thus proved

In English practice. This is a document containing the opinion of the common-law judges on a question of law submitted to them for their decision by the chancery court.

In Pennsylvania, in the period succeeding the revolution, lands set apart in the western portion of the state, which might be bought with the certificates which the soldiers of tha

The certificate of a notary public, justice of the peace, or other authorized officer, attached to a deed, mortgage, or other instrument, setting forth that the parties thereto per

In the practice of bank ere. This is a writing acknowledging that the person named has deposited in the bank a specified sum of money, and that the same la held subject to be drawn

A certificate required by statute, in some states, to be given by a third person who is found in possession of property subject to an attachment in the sheriff's hands, setting for

The instrument by which a private corporation is formed, under general statutes, executed by several persons as incorporators, and setting forth the name of the proposed corporatio

A form of obligation sometimes issued by public or private corporations having practically the same force and effect as a band, though not usually secured on any specific property.

A certificate issued by the proper public officer to the successful bidder at a judicial sale (such as a tax sale) setting forth the fact and details of his purchase, and which wil

In maritime law. A certificate of the registration of a vessel according to the registry acts, for the purpose of giving her a national character. 3 Steph. Comm. 274; 3 Kent, Comm.

The same as "certificate of purchase," supra, (g. v.)

A certificate of a corporation or joint-Stock company that the person named is the owner of a designated number of shares of its stock; given when the subscription is fully paid an

This is a mode of trini now little in use; it is resorted to in cases where the fact in issue lies out of the cognizance of the court, and the judges, in order to determine the que

In Scotch practice. This is the assurance given to a party of the course to be followed in case he does not appear or obey the order of the court.

In English practice. A writ anciently granted for the re-examining or retrial of a matter passed by assise bsfore justices, now entirely superseded by the remedy afforded by means

In French law. Certificates given by a foreign lawyer, establishing the law of the ceuntry to which he belongs upon one or more fixed points. These certificates can be produced bef

In the practice of bankers. This is a depositor's check recognized and accepted by the proper officer of the bank as a valid appropriation of the amount specified to the payee name

A copy of a document, signed and certified as a true copy by the officer to whose custody the original is intrusted. Doremus v. Smith, 4 N. J. Law, 143; People v. Foster, 27 Misc.

Lat. (To be informed of, to be made certain in regard to.) The name of a writ issued by a superior court directing an inferior court to send up to the former some pending proceedin

In old English law. Head money or common fine. Money paid yearly by the residents of several manors to the lords thereof, for the certain keeping of the leet, (pro certo letœ;) and

A mound, fence or inclosure,

In Saxon law. Tenants who were bound to supply drink for their lord's table. Cowell.

Ale or beer. Sometimes spelled "cerevisia."

In old records. An ale-house keeper. A beer or ale brewer. Blount.

Lat A stag or deer.

In Spanish law. An assignee. White, New Recop. hi 3, tit. 10, c. 1, § 3.

n. An assessment or tax. In Ireland, it was anciently applied to an exaction of victuals, at a certain rate, for soldiers in garrison. v. In old English law. To cease, stop, determ

The cause ceasing, the effect ceases. Broom, Max. 160.

The reason of the law ceasing, the law itself ceases also. Co. Litt. 70b; 2 Bl. Comm. 390, 391; Broom, Max. 159.

When the primitive or original estate determines, the derivative estate determines also. 8 Coke, 34; Broom, Max. 495.

Lu Lat. To cease, stop or stay.

Cease to reign, lf you wish not to adjudicate. Hob. 155.

In practice. An obsolete writ, which could formerly have bsen sued out when the defendant had for two years ceased or neglected to perform such service or to pay such rent as he wa

(1) An assessment or tax; (2) a tenant of land was said to cesse when he neglected or ceased to perform the services due to the lord. Co.. Litt. 373a, 380b.

Neglect; a ceasing from or omission to do, a thing. 3 Bl. Comm. 232. The determination of an estate. 1 Coke, 84; 4 Kent, Comm. 33, 90, 105, 295. The "cesser" of a term, annuity, or

Where terms for years are raised by settlement, it is usual to introduce a proviso that they shall cease when the trusts end. This proviso generally expresses three events: (1) The

(Let execution stay.) In practice. A stay of execution; or an order for such stay; the entry of such stay on record. 2 Tidd, Pr. 1104.

(Let process stay.) A stay of proceedings entered on the recerd.

Lat. A cession; a giving up or relinquishment; a surrender; an assignment.

In Roman law. Cession of goods. A surrender, relinquishment or assignment of all his property and effects made by an insolvent debtor for the benefit of his creditors. The effect o

In Roman law. A fictitious suit, in which the person who was to acquire the thing claimed (vindicabat) the thing as his own, the person who was to transfer it acknowledged the just

The act of ceding; a yielding or giving up; surrender; relinquishment of property or rights. In the civil law. An assignment. The act by which a party transfers property to another

In Scotch law. An assignee. Bell.

One who gives up his estate to be divided among his creditors.

In French law. The surrender which a debtor makes of all his goods to his creditors, when he finds himself in insolvent circumstances. It is of two kinds, either voluntary or compu

The surrender of property; the relinquishment that a debtor makes of all his property to his creditors, when he finds himself unable to pay his debts. Civil Code La. art 2170.

An assessment or tax.

One who ceases or neglecte so long to perform a duty that he thereby incurs the danger of the law. O. N. B. 136.

I Fr. A receiver; a baillff. Kelham.

L. Fr. That is to say or to-wlt. Generally written as one word, ce8toscavoir, oestoscavoire.

Fr. It is the offense which causes the shame, and not the scaffold.

He who has a right to a beneficial interest in and out of an estate the legal title to which is vested in another. 2 Washb. Real Prop. 163. The person who possesses the equitable r

He for whose ,use and banefit lands or tenements are held by another. The cestui que use has the right to receive the profits and benefits of the estate, but the legal title and po

He. Used frequently in composition in law French phrases. —Cestni que trust. He who has a right to a beneficial interest in and out of an estate the legal title to which is vested

The person for whose benefit a trust is created or who is to enjoy the income or the avails of it

A person for whose use and banefit lands or tenements are held by another. The latter, before the statute of uses, was called the "feoffee to use," and held the nominal or legal ti

He whose life is the measure of the duration of an estate. 1 Washb. Real Prop. 88. The person for whose life any lands, tenements, or hereditaments are held.

He who would have been heir to the father of the deceased shall also be heir of the son. Fitzh. Abr. "Descent," 2; 2 BLComm. 239, 250.

An abbreviated form of the Latin word confer, meaning "compare." Directs the reader's attention to another part of the work, to another volume, case, etc., where contrasted, analog

To summon; to command the presence of a person; to notify a person of legal proceedings against him and require his appearance thereto. To read or refer to legal authorities, in an

This abbreviation most commonly stands for "chapter," or "chancellor," but it may also mean "chancery," or "chief."

L. Fr. A chase or hunting ground.

In old English law. A station of game, more extended than a park, and less than a forest; also the liberty of chasing or hunting within a certain district; also the way through whi

L. Fr. That may be chased or hunted.

A chase is by common law. Beg. Brev. 806.

It Fr. To drive, compel or oblige; also to chase or hunt.

L. Lat. A horse for the chase or a hound, dog or courser.

An ancient term for goods, wares, and merchandise.

Traffic; the practice of buying and selling.