Black's Law Dictionary

An action which lies upon a promise to do a thing, where such promise or stipulation is certain, (st certa sit stipulatio.) Inst. 3, 16, pr.; Id. 3, 15, pr.; Dig. 12, 1; Bract, fol

An action arising where the law gave a remedy, but provided no appropriate form of action. Cni-vin.

An action which lay to recover anything which the plaintiff had given or paid to the defendant, by mistake, and which he was not bound to give or pay, either in fact or in law.

An action which lay to recover a thing stolen, against the thief himself, or his heir. Inst. 4, 1, 19.

Lat A condition. Conditio beneficialis, quæ statum construit, benigne secundum verborum intentionem est interpretanda; odiosa autem, quæ statnm destruit, stricte secnn-dnm verborum

In the civil law. The rank, situation, or degree of a particular person in some one of the different orders of society. An agreement or stipulation in regard to some uncertain futu

That which ls dependent upon or granted subject to a condition. —Conditional creditor. In the civil law. A creditor having a future right of action or having a right of action in e

In the civil law. A creditor having a future right of action or having a right of action in expectancy. Dig. 50, 16, 54.

An estate restrained to some particular heirs, exclusive of others, as to the heirs of a man's body, by which only his lineal descendants were admitted, in exclusion of collateral;

One which depends upon some extraneous event, beyond the mere default of the principal, and generally upon notice of the guaranty, notice of the principal's default, and reasonable

One by which the indorser annexes some condition (other than the failure of prior parties to pay) to his liability. The condition may be either precedent or subsequent. 1 Daniel, N

One which is liable to take effect or to be defeated according to the occurrence or non-occurrence of some uncertain event. Harker v. Smith, 41 Ohio St. 238, 52 Am. Rep. 80; Markha

A condition followed by a limitation over to a third person in case the condition be not fulfilled or there be a breach of it. Stearns v. Godfrey, 16 Me. 158; Church v. Grant, 3 Gr

A conditional pardon is one granted on the condition that it shall only endure until the voluntary doing of some act by the person pardoned, or that it shall be revoked by a subseq

In the civil law. A stipulation to do a thing upon condition, as the happening of any event. As to conditional "Acceptance," "Appearance," "Bequest," "Contract," "Delivery," "Devis

Any conditions are odious, but especially those which are against [in restraint of] marrlage and commerce. Lofft, Appendix, 644.

The terms upon which sales are made at auction; usually written or printed and exposed in the auction room at the time of sale.

In the civil law. Coownerships or limited ownerships, such as emphyteusis, superficies, pignus, hypotheca, ususfructus, usus, and habitatio. These wore more than mere jura in re al

In Spanish law. The remission of a debt, either expressly or tacitly.

The conditional remission or forgiveness, by one of the married parties, of a matrimonial offense committed by the other, and which would constitute a cause of divorce; the conditi

To make condonation of.

In the civil law. An action which the hirer (conductor) of a thing might have against the letter, (locator.) Inst3, 25, pr. 2.

In the civil law. A hiring. Used generally in connection with the term locatio, a letting. Locatio et conductio, (sometimes united as a compound word, "lo-catio-conductio,") a lett

In English prac-tlch Money paid to a witness who has been subpoenaed on a trial, sufficient to defray the reasonable expenses of going to, staying at, and returning from the place

In the civil law. A hirer.

In the civil law. A person who engages to perform a piece of work for another, at a stated price.

A thing hired.

In old English law. A woman at fourteen or fifteen years of age may take charge of her house and receive cone and key; that is, keep the accounts and keys. Cowell. Said by Lord Cok

In Roman law. A sacrificial rite resorted to by marrying persons of high patrician or priestly degree, for the purpose of clothing the husband with the manus over his wlfe; the civ

The making and completion of a written instrument 5 Coke, 1.

In criminal law. The association or banding together of two or more persons for the purpose of committing an act or furthering an enterprise which is forbidden by law, or which, th

A league or compact for mutual support, particularly of princes, nations or states. Such was the colonial government during the Revolution. —Articles of Confederation. The name of

A meeting of several persons for deliberation, for the interchange of opinion or for the removal of differencos or disputes. Thus, a meeting between a counsel and solicitor to advi

To admit the truth of a charge or accusation. Usually spoken of charges of tortious or criminal conduct

A plea to an assignment of error, admitting the same.

Lat. A cohfession. Confessio in judicio, a confession made in or before a court. Confessio facta in judicio omni probatione major est. A confession made in court is of greater effe

In criminal law. A voluntary statement made by a person charged with the commission of a crime or misdemeanor, communicated to another person, wherein he acknowledges himself to be

A plea in confession and avoidance is one which avows and confesses the truth of the averments of fact in the declaration, either expressly or by implication, but then proceeds to

In English practice. Where defendant alleges a ground of defense arising since the commencement of the action, the plaintiff may deliver confession of such defense and sign j'udg-m

The act of a debtor in permitting judgment to be entered against him by his creditor, for a stipulated sum, by a written statement to that effect nr by warrant of attorney, without

An ecclesiastic who receives auricular confessions of sins from persons under his spiritual charge, and pronounces absolution upon them. The secrets of the confessional are not pri

Lat. In the civil law. An action for enforcing a servitude. Mackeld. Rom. Law, § 324.

11 Coke, 30. A person confessing his guilt when arraigned is deemed to have been found guilty, and ls, as it were, condemned by his own sentence.

Trust; reliance; ground of trust In the construction of wills, this word is considered peculiarly appropriate to create a trust. "It is as applicable to the subject of a trust, as

Intrusted with the confidence of another or with his secret affairs or purposes; intended to be held in confidenco or kept secret. —Confidential communications. See Communication.

These are certain classes of communications, passing between persons who stand in a confidential or fiduciary relation to each other, (or who, on account of their relative situatio

This term has been applied to the creditors of a failing debtor who furnished him with the means of obtaining credit to which he was not entitled, involving in loss the unsuspectin

A fiduciary relation. These phrases are used as convertible terms. It is a peculiar relation which exists between client and attorney, principal and agent, principal and surety, la

Co.nfinement may be by either a moral or a physical restraint, by threats of violence with a present force or by physical restraint of the person. U. S. v. Thompson, 1 Sumn. 171, F

To complete or establish that which was imperfect or uncertain; to ratify what has been done without authority or insufficiently. Boggs v. Mining Co., 14 Cal. 305; Railway Co. v. R

The conveyance of an estate or the communication of a right that one hath in or unto lahds or tenements, to another that hath the possession thereof or some other estate therein, w

Lat Confirmation of the charters. A statute passed in the 25 E?dw. I., whereby the Great Charter is declared to be allowed as the common law; all judgments contrary to it are decla

An enlarging confirmation ; one which enlarges a rightful estate. Shep. Touch. 311.

A diminishing confirmation. A confirmation which tends and serves to diminish and abridge the services whereby a tenant doth hold, operating as a release df part of the services. S

A contract by which that which was infirm, imperfect or subject to be avoided is made firm and unavoidable. A conveyance of an estate or right in esse, whereby a voidable estate is

The confirmation of a judicial sale by the court which ordered it is a signification in some way (usually by the entry of an order) of the court's approval of the terms, price, and

A confirmation which makes valid a wrongful and defeasible title, or makes a conditional estate absolute. Shep. Touch. 311.

Lat I have confirmed. The emphatic word in the ancient deeds of confirmation. Fleta, lib. 3, c. 14, § 5.

Tbe grantee in a deed of confirmation.

The grantor in a deed of confirmation.

Capable of being confiscated or suitable for confiscation; liable to forfeiture. Camp v. Lockwood, 1 DalL (Pat) 393, 1 In Ed. 194.

In civll and old English law. To confiscate; to claim for or bring into the fisc or treasury. Bract fol. 150.

To appropriate property to the use of the sinte. To adjudge property to be forfeited to the public treasury; to seize and condemn private forfeited property to public use. Ware v.

One whose property has been seized and sold under a confiscation act, e. g., for unpaid taxes. See Brent v. New Orleans, 41 La. Ann. 1098, 6 South. 793.

The act of confiscating; or of condemning and adjudging to the public treasury. —Confiscation acts. Certain acts of congress, enacted during the progress of the civil war (1861 and

Certain acts of congress, enacted during the progress of the civil war (1861 and 1862) in the exercise of the war powers of the government and meant to strengthen its hands and aid

The name given to a group of fifteen cases decided by the United States supreme court in 1868, on the validity and construction of the confiscation acts of congress. Reported in 7

An old form of confiscate.

An accused persen who admits his guilt

1. An opposition, conflict or antagonism between differ ent laws of the same state or sovereignty upon the same subject-matter. 2. A similar inconsistency between the municipal law

In this conflict certain rules are applicable, viz.: (1) Special take precedence of general presumptions; (2) constant of casual ones; (3) presume in favor of innocence; (4) of leg

In English ecclesiastical law. Adherence to the doctrines and usages of the Church of England. —Conformity, bill of. See Bint. 07 Conformity.

See Bint. 07 Conformity.

Fr. In old English law. A fraternity, brotherhood or society. Cowell.

Brethren in a religious house; fellows of one and the same society. Cowell.

In criminal law. the act of setting a witness face to face with the prisoner, in order that the latter may make any objection he has to the witness or that the witness may identify

In the civil law. The inseparable intermixture of property belonging to different owners; it is properly confined to the pouring together of fluids, but la sometimes also used of a

This term, as used in the civil law and in compound terms derived from that source, means a blending or intermingling, and is equivalent to the term "merger" as used at common law.

The title of that branch of equity jurisdiction which relates to the discovery and settlement of conflicting, disputed, or uncertain boundaries.

A mode of extinguishing a debt, by the concurrence in the same person of two qualities which mutually destroy one another. This may occur in several ways, as where the creditor bec

The inseparable intermixture of property belonging to different owners; properly confined to the pouring together of fluids, but used in a wider sense to designate any indistinguis

A union of the qualities of debtor and creditor in the same person. The effect of such a union is, generally, to extinguish the debt. 1 Salk. 306; Cro. Car. 551.

A civil-law expression, synonymous with "merger," as used in the common law, applying where two titles to the same property unite m the same person. Palmer v. Burnside, 1 Woods, 17

Fr. In the French law. Permission, leave, license; a passport or clearance to a vessel; a permission to arm, equip or navigate a vessel. —Conge d'accorder. Leave to accord. A permi

L. Fr. Lawfni; permissible; allowable, "Disseisin is properly where a man entereth into any lands or tenements where his entry is not congedble, and putteth out him that hath the f

Leave to accord. A permission granted by the court, in the old process of levying a fine, to the defendant to agree with the plaintiff.

Leave to imparl. The privilege of an imparlance, (licentia loquendi.) 3 Bl. Comm. 299.

A permission or license from the British sovereign to a dean and chapter to elect a bishop, in time of vacation; or to an abbey or priory which is of royal foundation, to elect an

that which exists from the birth of the patient, and is (in law) properly called "idiocy." See supra.

In Saxon law. Fellow-members of a guild.

An ancient measure containing about a galion and a pint Cowell.

An assembly or society of persons who together constitute the principal supporters of a particular parish, or habitually meet at the same church for religious exercises. Robertson

In international law. An assembly of envoys, commissioners, deputies, etc., from different sovereignties who mcet to concert measures for their common good, or to adjust their mutu

The extreme practical test of the truth of a charge of impotence brought against a husband by a wife. It is now disused. Causes C6l6bres, 6, 183.

In the civll law of evidence. A throwing together. Presumption; the putting of things together, with the inference drawn therefroin.

In the civil law. A statement of the case, A brief synopsis of the case given by the advocate to the judge in opening the trial. Calvim

A slight degree of ere-' dence, arising from evidence too weak or too remote to cause belief. Weed v. Scofield, 73 Conn. 670, 49 AtL 22. Supposition or surmise. The idea of a fact,

Persons married to each other. Story, Co.nfl. Laws, § 71.

In old English law. An associate judge. Bract. 403.

Matrimonial rights; the right which husband and wife have to each other's society, comfort, and affection.