Black's Law Dictionary

One who by practice and habit is a thief; of, in some states, one who has been convicted of three distinct larcenies at the same term of court World v. State, 50 Md. 54; Com. v. Ho

A simple and direct denial of the material allegations of the opposite pleading, concluding to the country, and without inducement or absque hoc.

In Scotch law. Land possessed in common by different proprietors or by those having acquired rights of servitude. Bell.

In common recoveries, the person who is vouched to warranty. In this fictitious proceeding the crier of the court usually performs the office of a common vouchee. 2 Bl. Comm. 358;

A party wall; one which has been built at the common expense of the two owners whose properties are contiguous, or a wall built by one party in which the other has acquired a commo

The public or common good or welfare. As to common "Bail," "Barretor," "Carrier," "Chase," "Coubcil," "Counts," "Diligence," "Day," "Debtor," "Drunkard," "Error," "Fishery," "Highw

The public or common weal or welfare. This cannot be regarded as a technical term of public law, though often used in political science. It generally designates, when so employed,

The dwelling in any place as an inhabitant; which consists in usually lying there. 4 Bl. Comm. 273. In American law it is used to denote a mere temporary residence. Ames v. Winsor,

Staying or abiding; dwelling temporarily in a place.

Several persons who perish at the same time in consequence of the same calamity.

A contribution which was gathered at marriages, and when young priests said or sung the first masses. Prohibited by 26 Hen. VIIL c. 6. Cowell.

Half a cantred or hundred in Wales, containing fifty vilages. Also a great seignory or lordship, and may include one or divers manors. Co.. Litt. 5.

A "civil commotion" is an insurrection of the people for general purposes, though it may not amount to rehellion where there ls a usurped power. 2 Marsh. Ins. 793; Boon v. Insuranc

Such crimes as are punishable by the force of the common law, as distinguished from crimes created by statute. Wilkins v. U. S., 96 Fed. 837, 37 C G A. 588; In re Greene (C. C.) 52

adj. Lat. Common. —Commune concilium regni. The common council of the realm. One of the names of the English parliament. —Commune forum. The common place of justice. The seat of th

The common council of the realm. One of the names of the English parliament.

The common place of justice. The seat of the principal courts, especially those that are fixed.

In old English Law. A common plea or civil action, such as an action of debt

A common or mutual bond. Applied to the common stock of consanguinity, and to the feodal band of fealty, as the common bond of union, between lord and tenant. 2 Bl. Comm. 250; S Bl

In old English law. Co.m-mon things, res communes. Such as running water, the air, the sea, and sea shores. Bract fol. 7b.

In old English law. Common pleas or actions; those between one subject and another, as distinguished from picas of the crown.

An ancient writ directed to the treasurer and barons of the exchequer, forbidding them to hold pleas between common persons (i. e, not debtors to the king, who alone originally sue

In ordinary years; on the annual average.

Information given; the sharing of knowledge by one with 4n-other; conference; consultation or bargaining preparatory to making a contract. Also intercourse; connection. In French l

In English law. An obsolete writ which anciently lay for the lord, whose tenant, holding by knight's service, died, and left his eldest son under age, against a stranger that enter

In the civll law. An action which lies for those who have property in common, to procure a division. It lies where parties hold land in common but not in partnership. Calvin.

In Scotch law. The negotiations preliminary to the entering into a contract

In the civll law. A term signifying a community (q. v.) of goods.

In Scotch law. The right enjoyed by married persons in the movable goods belonging to them. Bell.

Common error makes law. 4 Inst 240; Noy, Max. p. 37, max. 27. Common error goeth for a law. Finch, Law, b. 1, c. 3, no. 54. Common error sometimes passes current as law. Broom, Max

In feudal law on the continent of Europe, this name was given to towns enfranchised by the crown, about the twelfth century, and formed into free corporations by grants called "cha

A name given to proposed systems of life or soclal organisation based upon the fundamental principle of the non-existence of private property and of a community of goods in a socie

Common opinion; general professional opinion. Acoording to Lord Coke, (who places it on the footing of observance or usage,) common opinion is good authority in law. Co. Litt. 186a

In the civil law. A common or party wall. Dig. 8, 2, 8, 13.

In old English law. A common scold, (q. vt) 4 Bl. Comm. 168.

In old English law. A common writing; a writing common to both parties; a chirograph. Gian, lib. 8, c. 1.

A common stock of descent; a common ancestor.

The general assembly of the kingdom of England. One of the ancient names of the English parliament 1 Bl. Comm. 148.

A society of people living in the same place, under the same laws and regulations, and who have common rights and privileges. In re Huss, 126 N. Y. 537, 27 N. E. 784, 12 In R. A. 6

One chargeable to the community (of husband and wife) rather than to either of the parties individually. Calhoun v. Leary, 6 Wash. 17, 32 Pac. 1070.

This term, as used in the definition of a partnership, (to which a community of profits is essential,) means a proprietorship in them as distinguished from a personal claim upon th

See Community.

In criminal law. Change; substitution. The substitution of one punishment for another, after conviction of the party subject to it. The change of a punishment from a greater to a l

Payment of a designated lump sum (permanent or annual) for the privilege of exemption from taxes, or the settlement in advance of a specific sum in lieu of an ad valorem tax. Cotto

Signifies the conversion of tithes into a fixed payment in money.

A railroad ticket giving the holder the right to travel at a certnin rate for a limited number of trips (or for an, unlimited number within a certain period of time) for a less amo

See Contract.

See Justice.

An agreement or contract Usually applied to conventions between nations or sovereign states. A compact is a mutual consent of parties concerned respecting some property or right th

All kinds of food, except bread and drink. Spelman

An English statute, (8 Viet c. 16,) passed in 1845, which consolidated the clauses of previous laws still remaining in force on the subject of public companies. It is considered as

One of the knights of the Order of the Garter.

In French law. A general term, comprehending all persons who compose the crew of a ship or vessel. Poth. Mar. Cont. no. 163.

A society or association of persons, in considerable number, interested in a common object, and uniting themselves for the prosecution of some commercial or industrial underinking

In the civil law. Comparison of writings, or handwritings. A mode of proof allowed in certain cases.

Proceeding by the method of comparison; founded on comparison; estimated by comparison. —Comparative interpretation. That method of interpretation which seeks to arrive at the mean

That method of interpretation which seeks to arrive at the meaning of a statute or other writing by comparing its several parts and also bv comparing it as a whole with other like

The study of the principles of legal science by the comparison of various systems of law.

That doctrine in the law of negligence by which the negligence of the parties is compared, in the degrees of "slight," "ordinary," and "gross" negligence, and a recovery permitted,

A comparison by the juxtaposition of two writings, in order, by such comparison, to ascertain whether both were written by the same person. A method of proof resorted to where the

Belonging to commonage. iJus compascuum, the right of common of pasture,

Imagining or contriving or plotting. In English law, "compassing the king's death" is treason. 4 Bl. Comm. 76.

In the canon law. A kind of spiritual relationship contracted by baptism.

Spiritual affinity, contracted by sponsorship in baptism.

Such relation and consistency between the duties of two offices that they may be held and filled by one person.

In Scotch law. To appear.

In Scotch practice. Appearance; an appearance made for a defendant; an appearance by counsel. Bell.

An adversary or accuser. Compendia sunt dispendia. Co. Litt. SO5. Abbreviations are detriments.

One who is legally qualified to be heard to testify in a cause. Hogan v. Sherman, 5 Mich. 60; People v. Compton, 123 Cal. 403, 56 Pac. 44; Com. v. Mullen, 97 Mass. 545. See Compete

An abridgment, synopsis or digest

In Spanish law. Compensation; set-off. The extinction of a debt by another debt of equal dignity.

Lat. In the civll law. Compensation or set-off. A proceeding resembling a set-off in the common law, being a claim on the part of the defendant to have an amount due to him from th

(Set-off of crime or guilt.) In practice. The plea of recrimination in a suit for a divorce; that is, that the complainant is guilty of the same kind of offense with which the resp

Indemnification; payment of damages; making amends; that which is necessary to restore an injured party to his former position. An act which a court orders to be done or money whic

See Damages.

In the Roman law. The adjournment of a cause, In order to hear the parties or their advocates a second time; a second hearing of the parties to a cause, Calvin.

In practice. A plea in an action of debt on a bail bond that thedefendant appeared .at the day re-qutred.

In the law of evidence. The presenco of those characteristics or the absence of those disabilities, which render a witness legally fit and qualified to give testimony in a court of

Duly qualified; answering all requirements; adequate; suiteble; sufficient; capable; legally fit. Levee Dist. v. Jamison, 176 Mo. 557, 75 S. W. 679. —Competent and omitted. In Scot

In Scotch practice. A term applied to a plea which might have been urged by a party during the dependence of a cause, but which had been omitted. Bell.

As applied to courts and public officers, this term imports jurisdiction and due legal authority to deal with the particular matter in question. Mitchel v. U. S., 9 Pet. 735, 9 L.

That which the very nature of the thing to be proven requires, as, the production of a writing where its contents are the subject of inquiry. 1 Greenl. Ev. § 2; Chapman v. McAdams,

See Competent.

In Scotch practice. The contest among creditors claiming on their respective diligences or creditors claiming on their securities. Bell. —Unfair competition in trade. See UNFAIR.

A literary production, composed of the works of others and arranged in a methodical manner.

To compile is to copy from various authors into one work. Between a compilation and an abridgment there is a clear distinction. A compilation consists of selected extracts from dif

A collection' of the statutes existing and in force in a given state, all laws and parts of laws relating to each subject-matter being brought together under one head, and the whol

In practice. One who applies to the courts for legal redress; one who exhibits a bill of complaint This is the proper designation of one suing in equity, though "plaintiff" is ofte

In civil practice. In those states having a Code of Civil Procedure, the complaint is the first or initiatory pleading on the part of the plaintiff in a civll action. It correspond

adj. 1. Full; entire; including every item or element of the thing spoken of, without omissions or deficiencies; as, a "complete" copy, record, schedule or transcript Yeager v. Wri

One who is united with others in an ill design; an associate; a confederate; an accomplice.

The ordinance of measures. The title of an ancient ordinance, not printed, mentioned in the statute 23 Hen. VIII. c. 4; establishing a standard of measures. 1 Bl. Comm. 275. —Compo

An agreement, made upon a sufficient consideration, between an insolvent or embarrassed debtor and his creditors, whereby the latter, for the sake of immediate payment, agree to ac

An agreement embodying the terms of a composition between a debtor and his creditors.

An arrangement between a bankrupt and his creditors, whereby the amount he can be expected to pay is liquidated, and he is allowed to retain his assets, upon condition of his makin

In patent law. A mixture or chemical combination of materials. Goodyear v. Railroad Co., 10 Fed. Cas. 664; Cahill v. Brown, 4 Fed. Cas. 1005; Jacobs v. Baker, 7 Wall. 295 , 19 L. E

in English ecclesiastical law, when an agreement is made between the owner of lands and the incumbant of a benefice, with the consent of the ordinary and the patron, that the lands

The statute of ells and perches. The title of an English statute establishing a standard of measures. 1 Bl. Comm. 275.

Sound of mind. Having use and control of one's mental faculties.

Having the use of one's limbs or the power of bodily motion. Si fuit ita compos sui quod itinerare potuit de loco in locum, If he had so far the use of his limbs as to be able to t