Black's Law Dictionary

A day's journey; a day's work; a day's expenses.

L. Lat In old writs. An abbreviation of dilecto et fideli, (to his beloved and faithful.)

In Scotch law. The days within which parties in civil and criminal prosecutions are cited to appear. Bell.

Fr. God and my right. The motto of the royal arms of England, first assumed by Richard I.

In Fr. In old law. God hls act; God's act. An event beyond human foresight or control Termes de la Ley.

See Dying Without Issue.

To destroy; to disfigure or deface,

In an agreement for submission to arbitration, "difference" means disagreement or dispute. Fravert v. Fesler, 11 Colo. App. 387, 53 Pac. 288; Pioneer Mfg. Co. v. Phœnix Assur. Ch,

4 Coke, 118. It is difficult that one man should sustain the place of two.

For the meaning of the phrase "difficult and extraordinary case," as used in New York statutes and practice, see Standard Trust Co. v. New York, etc., R. Co., 178 N. Y. 407, 70 N.

In old English law. To deny or keep from one. Difforciare rectum, to deny justice to any one, after having been required to do it.

Lat. In civil and old English law. To make or bnild a house; to erect a building. Dig. 45, 1, 75, 7.

3 Inst. 201. To build upon your own land what may Injure another is not lawful. A proprietor of land has no right to erect an edifice on his own ground, interfering with the due en

What is built upon land bslongs to or goes with land. Broom, Max. 172; Co. Litt. 4a.

Buildings belong to [go with] the soil. Fleta, lib. 3, c. 2, § 12.

Second marriage; marriage to a second wife after the death of the first, as "bigamy," in law, is having two wives at once. Originally, a man who married a widow or married again af

A collection or compilation, embodying the chief matter of numerous books in one, disposed under proper heads or titles, and usually by an alphabetical arrangement, for facility in

Digests. One of the titles of the Pandects of Justinian. Inst, prœm, § 4. Bracton uses the singular, "Digestum" Bract, fol. 19.

The ordinary name of the Pandects of Justinian, which are now usually cited by the abbreviation "Dig." instead of "Ff.," as formerly. Sometimes calied "Digest," in the singular.

Has bcen held as synonymous with "excavating," and not confined to the removal of earth. Sherman v. New York, 1 N. Y. 316.

In canon law. A person holding an ecclesiastical benefice or dignity, which gave him some pre-eminence above mere priests and canons. To this class exclusively belonged all bishops

In English law. An honor; a title, station or distinction of honor. Dignities are a species of incorporeal hereditaments, in which a person may have a property or estate. 2 Bl. Com

Judicial decision or determination.

In Spanish law. A space of time granted to a party to a snit in which to answer a demand or produce evidence of a disputed fact.

A species of ecclesiastical waste which occurs whenever the incumbent suffers any edifices of his ecclesiastical living to go to ruin or decay. It is either voluntary, by pulling d

Tending or intended to cause delay or to gain time or to put off a decision. —Dilatory defense. In chancery practice. One the object of which is to dismiss, suspend, or obstruct th

In chancery practice. One the object of which is to dismiss, suspend, or obstruct the suit, without touching the merits, until the impediment or obstacle insisted on shall be remov

See Dilatort.

In Roman law. An officor who attended to the repairs of the temples and other public bnildings; the repairs and cleanliness of the streets; the care of the weights and measures; th

Prudence; vigilant activity; attentiveness; or care, of which there are infinite shades, from the sligfitest momentary thought to the most vigilant anxiety; but the law recognizes

(Fr. De lege ejectus, Lat.) Outlawed.

In the Roman law. The Ædilitian Edict; an edict providing remedies for frauds in sales, the execution of which bslonged to the curule ædiles. Dig. 21, 1. See Cod. 4, 58.

In old English law. Pottage formerly made for the king's table on the coronation day. There was a tenure in serjeantry, by which lands were held of the king by the service of findi

A silver coin of the United States, of the value of ten cents or one-tenth of the dollar.

Half; a half; the half.

The moiety or half of a thing.

In the civll law. Diminution; a taking away; loss or deprivation. Diminutio capitis, loss of status or condition. See Capitis Diminutio.

Incompleteness. A word signifying that the record sent up from an inferior to a superior court for review is incomplete or not fully cortified. In such case the party may suggest a

Incompleteness of the rec-cord sent up on appeal. See Diminution.

In old conveyancing. I have demised. Dimisi, concessi, et ad firmam tradidi, have demised, granted, and to farm let. The usual words of operation in a lease. 2 Bl. Comm. 317, 318.

In old conveyancing. [He] has demised. See Dimisi.

In the civil law. Letters dimissory or dismissory, commonly called "apostles," (quæ vulgo apostoli dicuntur.) Dig. 50, 16, 106. See AnosTOLi, Apostles.

Where a candidate for holy orders has a title of ordination in one diocese in England, and is to be ordained in another, the bishop of the former diocese gives letters dimissory to

The name of a writ which the heirs of a person who was non cornos mentis, and who aliened his lands, might ave sued out to restore him to his rights. Abolished by 3 & 4 Wm. IV. c.

A government of two persons.

In Spanish law. Money. Dinero contado, money counted. White, New Recop. b. 2, tit. 13, c. 1, § 1. In Roman law. A civil division of the Roman empire, embracing several provinces. C

Belonging to a diocese; a bishop, as he stands related to hls own clergy or flock.

In English law. The consistorial courts of each diocese, exermetal or other substance, used among the cising general jurisdiction of all matters arisRomans for the purpose of writi

The territorial extent of a bishop's jurisdiction. The circuit of every bishop's jurisdiction. Co.. Litt. 94; 1 BL Comm. 111.

In mining law. The line of declination of strata; the angle which measures the deviation of a mineralized vein or lode from the vertical plane; the slope or slant of a vein, away f

In the civil law. A royal charter; letters patent granted by a prince or sovereign. Calvin. An instrument given by colleges and societies on the conferring of any degrees. State v.

The science which treats of the relations and interests of nations with nations. Negotiation or intercourse between nations through their representatives. The rules, customs, and p

In international law. A general name for nil classes of persons charged with the negotiation, transaction or superintendence of the diplomatic business of one nation at the court o

The science of diplomas or of ancient writings and documents; the art of judging of ancient charters, public documents, diplomas, etc., and discriminating the true from the false,

Practically the same thing as metho-mania, except that the irresistible impulse to intoxication is extended by some writers to include the use of such drugs as opium or cocaine as

A person subject to dipsomania. One who has an irresistible desire for alcoholic llquors. See Insanity.

Diptycha; tablets of wood.

The district over which a bishop exercised his spiritual functions.

Immediate; by the shortest course; without circuity; operating by an immedlate connection or relation, Instead of operating through a medium; the opposite of indirect. In the usual

A direct attack on a judgment or decree is an attempt, for sufficient cause, to have it annulled, reversed, vacated, corrected, declared void, or enjoined, in a proceeding institut

In practice. The first interrogation or examination of a witness, on the merits, by the party on whose behalf he is called. This is to be distinguished from an examination in pais,

A direct interest, such as would render the interested party incompetent to testify in regard to the matter, is an interest which is certain, and not contingent or doubtful. A matt

1. The act of governing; management; superintendence. Also the body of persons (calied "directors") who are charged with the management and administration of a corporation or Insti

Property is said to descend or be inherited in the direct line when it passes in lineal succession; from ancestor to son, grandson, great-grandson, and so on.

one resulting immediately and proximately from the fire, and not remotely from some of the consequences or effects of the fire. Insurance Co. v. Leader, 121 Ga. 260, 48 S. E. 974;

An officer having the centrol, management, and superintendence of the United States mint and its branches. He is appointed by the president, by and with the advice and consent of t

Persons appointed or elected according to law, authorized to manage and direct the affairs of a corporation or company. The whole of the directors collectively form the board of di

A provision in a statute, rule of procedure or the like, is said to be directory when it is to be considered as a mere direction or instruction of no obligatory force, and involvin

One which is subject to be moulded or applied according to subsequent directions of the grantor; one which is not completely and finally settled by the instrument creating it, but

One which is absolute and nnconditional as to the lime, amount, and the persons by whom and to whom it is to be made. People v. Boy-ian (C. C.) 25 Fed. 595. See Ancient Older of Hi

A direct tax is one which is demanded from the very persons who, it is intended .or desired, shmild pay it. Indirect taxes are those which are demanded from one person, in the expe

A direct trust is an express trust, as distinguished from a constructive or implied trust. Carrence v. Ward, 43 W. Va. 307, 27 S. E. 329.

In Roman law. Officers who distributed ballots to the people, to be used in voting. Tayl. Civil Law, 192.

In canon law. Absolute bars to marriage, which would make it null ab initio.

The want of legal ability or capacity to exercise legal rights, either special or ordinary or to do certain acts with proper legal effect or to enjoy certain privileges or powers o

In its ordinary sense, to disable is to cause a disability, (q. v.) In the old language of pleading, to disable is to take advantage of one's own or another's disability. Thus, it

These are acts of parliament, restraining and regulating the exercise of a right or the power of alienation; the term Is specially applied to 1 Eliz. c. 19, and similar acts restra

To deny a thing.

To repudiate; to revoke a consent once given; to recall an affirmance. To refuse one's subsequent sanction to a former act; to disclaim the intention of being bound by an anteceden

The repudiation of a former transaction. The refusal by one who has the right to refuse, (as in the case of a voidable contract,) to abide by his former acts or accept the legal co

To restore to their former condition lands which have been turned into forests. To remove from the operation of the forest laws. 2 Bl. Comm. 416.

Difference of opinion or want of uniformity or concurrence of views; as, a disagreement among the members of a jury, among the judges of a court or between arbitrators. Darnell v.

To disable a person.

In ecclesiastical law. This is where the appropriation of a benefice is severed, either by the patron presenting a clerk or by the corporation which has the appropriation being dis

To repudiate the unauthorized acts of an agent; to deny the authority by which he assumed to act.

In England, to deprive a barrister permanently of the privileges of his position; it is analogous to striking an attorney off the rolls. In America, the word describes the act of a

In old English law. A conversion of wood grounds into arable or pasture; an assarting. Cowell. See Assart.

Money expended by an executor, guardian, trustee, etc., for the benefit of the estate in his hands or in connection with its administration. The term is also used under the codes o

In old English law. To dlscharge, to unload; as a vessel. Carcare et discar care; to charge and dlscharge; to load and unioad. Cowell.

In old European law. To discharge or unload, as a wagon. Spelman.

In Roman law. The argument of a cause by the counsel on bath sides. Calvim

The opposite of charge; hence to release; liberate; annul; unburden; disincumber. In the law of contracts. To cancel or unloose the obligation of a contract; to make an agreement o

The repudiation or renunciation of a right or claim vested in a person or which he had formerly alleged to be his. The refusal, waiver or denial of an estate or right offered to a

In Scotch law. Disavowal of tenure; denial that one holds lands of another. Bell.

To deprive commonable lands of their commonable quality, by inclosing and appropriating or improving them.

In practice. The termination of an action, in consequence of the plaintiff's omitting to continue the process or proceedings by proper entries on the record. 3 Bl. Comm. 296; 1 Tid

The termination or suspension of an estate-tall, in consequence of the act of the tenant in tail, in conveying a larger estate in the land than he was by law entitled to do. 2 Bl.

Co. Litt. 325. To discontinue signifies nothing else than to intermit, to disuse, to interrupt.

Occasional; intermittent; characterized by separate repeated acts; as, discontinuous easements and servitudes. See Easement.

In a general sense, an allowance or deduction made from a gross sum on any account whatever. In a more limited and technical sense, the taking of interest in advance. By the langua