Black's Law Dictionary

A gift between the living. The ordinary kind of gift by one person to another. 2 Kent, Comm. 438; 2 Steph. Comm. 102. A term derived -from the civil law. Inst. 2, 7, 2. A donation

A gift made by a person in sickness, who, apprehending his dissolution near, delivers, or causes to be delivered, to another the possession of any personal goods, to keep as his ow

In ecclesiastical law. A mode of acquiring a benefice by deed of glft alone, without presentation, institution, or induction. 3 Steph. Comin. 81. In general. A gift. See Donatio.

Lands granted from the public domain to an individual as a bounty, gift, or donation; particularly, in early Pennsylvania history, lands thus granted to soldiers of the revolutiona

A gift is not presumed. Jenk. Cont. 100.

A gift is perfected [made complete] by the possession of the receiver. Jenk. Cent 109, case 9. A gift is incomplete until possession is delivered. 2 Kent, Comm. 438.

Dav. Ir. K. B. 75. A gift of the prince is understood without prejudice to a third party.

In ecclesiastical law. A species of advowson, where the benefice is cenferred on the clerk by the patron's deed of donation, without presentation, institution or induction. 2 Bl. C

A donor; one who makes a gift, (donatio.)

A donee; a person to whom a gift is made; a purchaser. Bract, fol. 13, et seq.

The donor never ceases to possess, until the donee begins to possess. Bract, fob 41b.

The person ou whom the king bestows his right to any forfeiture that has fallen to the crown.

See Double.

This is not allowed either in the declaration or subsequent pleadings. Its meaning with respect to the former is that the declaration must not, in support of a single demand, alleg

A possibility upon a possibility. 2 BL Comm. 170.

In English law. Rent payable by a tenant who continues in possession after the time for which he has given notice to quit, until the time of his quitting possession. St. 11 Geo. II

The taxing of the same item or piece of property twice to the same person, or taxing it as the property of one person and again as the property of another; but this does not includ

In patent law. An application of a principle or process, previously known and applied, to some new use, but which does not lead to a new result or the production of a new article.

See Double.

Distinguished from "made." "A 'deed made' may no doubt mean au 'instrument made;' but a 'deed done' is not an 'instrument done,'—it la an 'act done;' and therefore these words, 'ma

In old English law. He to whom lands were given; the party to whom a donatio was made. In later law. He to whom lands or tenements are given in tail. Litt. § 57. In modern and Amer

In French law. Guarantor of negotiable paper other than by indorsement.

In old English law. He by whom lands were given to another; the party making a donation. In later law. He who gives lands or tenements to another in tail. Litt. § 57; Termes de la

Lat. In the civll law. A gift; a free gift Calvin. Distinguished from munus. Dig. 50, 16, 194.

In Scotch law. Judicial sentence or judgment The decision or sentence of a court orally pronounced by an officer called a "dempster" or "deemster." In modern usage, criminal senten

See Domesday-Book.

The place of usual entrance in a house or into a room in the house. State v. McBeth, 49 Kan. 584, 31 Pac. 145.

Literally, sleeping; hence inactive; in abeyance; unknown; concealed. —Dormant claim. One which is in abeyance. —Dormant execution. One which a creditor delivers to the sheriff wit

One which is in abeyance.

See Dormant.

One which a creditor delivers to the sheriff with directions to levy only, and not to sell, until further orders, or until a junior execution is received.

One which has not been satisfied, nor extinguished by lapse of time, but which has remained so long unexecuted that execution cannot now be issued upon it without first reviving th

See Partners.

Those whose names are not known or do not appear as partners, but who nevertheless are silent partners, and partake of the profits, and thereby become partners, either absolutely t

2 Inst. 161. The laws sometimes sleep, never die.

Lat. The back. In dorso recordi, on the back of the record. 5 Coke, 44b.

(Contracted from dormiture.) A dormitory of a convent; a place to sleep in.

In Roman law. Dowry; a wife's marriage portion; all that property which on marriage is transferred by the wife herself or by another to the husband with a view of diminishing the b

Dower ought not to be demanded of dower. Co. Litt. 31; 4 Coke, 122 b. A widow is not dow-able of lands assigned to another woman in dower. 1 Hill. Real Prop. 135.

A reasonable marriage portion. A reasonable part of her husband's estate, to which every widow is entitled, of lands of which her husband may have endowed her on the day of marriag

Co.. Litt. 336. Reasonable or legitimate dower belongs to every woman of a third part of all the lands and tenements of which her husband was seised in his demesne, as of fee, etc.

(A French word, adopted in Louisiana.) The fortune, portion or dowry which a woman brings to her husband by the marriage.

Dotage is that feebleness of the mental faculties which proceeds from old age. It is a diminution or decay of that intellectual power which was once possessed. It is the slow appro

Relating to the dos or portion of a woman; constituting her portion; comprised in her portion. —Dotal property. In the civil law, in Louisiana, by this term is understood that prop

In canon and feudal law. Dower. Spelman, voc. "Doarium;" Calvin. 2 Bl. Comm. 129. Used as early as A. D. 841.

In the civil law, in Louisiana, by this term is understood that propertv which the wife brings to the husband to assist him in bearing the expenses of the marriage establishment. E

The act of giving a dowry or portion; endowment in general, including the endowment of a hospital or other charitable institution.

n. In Spanish law. The marriage portion of a wife. White, New Recop. b. 1, tit 6, c. 1. The property which the wife gives to the husband on account of marriage or for the purpose o

A writ which lay for a widow, when it was judicially ascertained that a tenant to the king was seised of tenements in fee or fee-tail at the day of his death, and that he held of t

A writ which lies for a widow to whom no dower has bcen assigned. 3 Bl. Comm. 182. By 23 & 24 Viet. c. 126, an ordinary action commenced by writ of summons has taken its place; but

Co. Litt. 31. The law favors dower; it is the reward of chastity; therefore let it be preserved.

Admeasurement of dower, where the widow holds more than her share, etc.

A dowager.

A gift on account of marriage. In Roman law, the bridegroom's gift to the bride in antipication of marriage and to secare her dos was called "donatio ante nuptias;" but by an ordin

Twofold; acting in two capacities or having two aspects; multiplied by two. This term has ordinarily the same meaning in law as in popular speech. The principal compound terms into

Adultery committed by two persons each of whom is married to another as distinguished from "single" adultery, where one of the participants is unmarried. Hunter v. U. S., 1 Pin. (W

In Scotch law. Double the ordinary or single value of a marriage. Bell. See Duplex Valor Mari-tagii.

In Scotch law. A bond with a penalty, as distinguished from a single band. 2 Kames, Eq. 359

In ecclesiastical law. A grievance made known by a clerk or other person, to the archbishop of the province, against the ordinary, for delaying or refusing to do justice in some ca

See Costs.

Twice the amount of actual damages as found by the verdict of a jury allowed by stafute in some cases of injuries by negli§ence, fraud, or trespass. Cross v. United tates. 6 Fed. C

A gold coin of the United States of the value of twenty dollars.

A system of mercantile book-keeping, in which the entries in the day-book, etc., are posted twice into the ledger. First, to a personal account, that is, to the account of the pers

In old English law. A fine sur done grant et render was calied a "double fine," because it comprehended the fine eur cognisance de droit come ceo, etc., and the fine eur concessit.

One having the technical fault of duplicity; one consisting of several distinct and independent matters alleged to the/ same point and requiring different answers.

See Duplicity ; Plea; Pleading.

Letters-patent Cowell.

See Double.

In English law. This is a penalty on a tenant holding over after his landlord's notice to quit. By 4 Geo. II. c. 28, § 1, it is enacted that if any tenant for life or years hold'ov

This was when a common recovery was had, and an estate of freehold was first conveyed to any indifferent person against whom the prœcipe was brought, and then he vouched the tenant

See Double.

A will in which two persons j'oin, each leaving his property and estate to the other, so that the survivor takes the whole. Evans v. Smith, 28 Ga. 98, 73 Am. Dec. 751.

Uncertainty of mind; the absence of a settled opinion or conviction; the attitude of mind towards the acceptance of or belief in a proposition, thcory or statement, in which the ju

One as to the validity of which there exists some doubt, either as to matter of fact or of law; one which invites or exposes the party holding it to litigation. Distinguished from

InFr. A gift Otherwise written "don" and "done." The thirty-fourth chapter of Britton is entitled "De Douns."

Lat. I give that you may give; I give [you] that you may give [me.] A formula in the civil law, constituting a general division under which those contracts (termed "innominate") we

Lat I give that you may do; I give [you] that you may do or make [for me.] A formula in the civil law, under which those contracts were classed in which one party gave or agreed to

Doves are animals feræ natures, and not the subject of larceny uniess they are in the owner's custody; as, for example, in a dove-house or when in the nest before they can fly. Com

Subject to be charged with dower; hs dowable lands. Entitled or entitling to dower. Thus, a dowable interest in lands is such as entitles the owner to have such lands charged with

A widow who is endowed or who has a jointure in lieu of dower. In England, this is a title or addition given to the widows of princes, dukes, earls, and other noblemen, to distingu

The provision which the law makes for a widow out of the lands or tenements of her husband, for her support and the nurture of her children. Co. Litt. 30a; 2 Bl. Comm. 130; 4 Kent,

Dower at the church door or porch. An ancient kind of dower in England, where a man, (being tenant in fee-simple, of full age,) openly at the church door, where all marriages were

A kind of dower in England, regulated by custom, where the quantity allowed the wife differed from the proportion of the common law; as that the wife should have half the husband's

The ordinary kind of dower in English and American law, consisting of a life interest in one-third of the lands or which the husband was seised in fee at any time during the covert

Lu Fr. Dower of the fairest [part.] A species of ancient English dower, incident to the old tenures, where there was a guardian in chivalry, and the wife occupied lands of the heir

Dower by the father's assent. A species of dower ad ostium ecclesiæ, made when the husband's father was alive, and the son, by his consent expressly given, endowed hls wife with pa

A writ of right which lay for a widow to whom no dower had been assigned.

Stones dividing lands, etc. Cowell.

In old English law. Endowment; dower. Grogan v. Garrison, 27 Ohio St. 61.

A woman entitled to dower; a tenant in dower. 2 P. Wms. 707.

The property which a woman brings to her husband in marriage; now more commonly calied a "portion." By dowry is meant the efforts which the wife brings to the husband to support th

L. Fr. Twelve; a person twelve years of age. St 18 Edw. II.; Barring. Ob. St. 208.

Twelve peers assembled at the instance of the barons, in the reign of Henry III., to be privy counselors or rather conservators of the kingdom.

An abbreviation for Domus Procerum, the house of lords.

An abbreviation for "doctor;" also, in commercial usage, for "debtor," Indicating the items or particulars in a bill or In an account-book chargeable against the person to whom the

A term employed in old pleadings and records, to denote a groat. Townsh. PL 180. An Athenian silver coin, of the value of about fifteen cents.

A code of laws prepared by Draco, the celebrated lawgiver of Athens. These laws were exceedingly severe, and the term is now sometimes applied to any laws of unusual harshness.

The standard, ensign or mllitary colors borne in war by the ancient kings of England, having the figure of a dragon painted thereon.

The common term for a bill of exchange; as being drawn by one person on another. Hinnemann v. Rosenback, 39 N. Y. 100; Douglass v. Wilkeson, 6 Wend. (N. Y.) 643. An order for the p

Any one who draws or frames a legal document, e, p., a will, conveyance, pleading, etc.