A Law Dictionary, Adapted to the Constitution and Laws of the United States

A construction of wood, stone, or other materials made across a stream of water for the purpose of confining it; a mole. The owner of a stream, not navigable, may erect a dam acros

practice. The i demnity given by law, to be recovered from the wrong doer by a person who has sustained an injury, either in his person, property or relative rights, in consequence

DOUBLE OR

LAYING, pleading. In personal and mixed: actions, (but not in penal actions, for obvious reasons,) the declaration must allege, in conclusion, that the injury is to the damage of t

SPECIAL, torts. Special damages are such as really took place, and are not implied by law; these are either superadded to general damages arising from an act injurious in itself, a

tn practice, is the act of the plaintiff put upon the record, whereby he abates or remits the excess of damages found by the jury beyond the sum laid in the declaration. See 1 Saun

mar. law. ‘This phrase is sometimes put in bills of lading, the master of the ship agreeing to deliver the goods therein mentioned to the consignee, whois named, the dangers of the

A corruption of the French word dernier, the last. It is sometimes used, as, darrein continuance, the last continuance. When any matter has arisen in discharge of the defendant in

is the designation or inof the time when it was made. This word is derived from the latin, datum, because when deeds and agreements were written in that language, immediately befor

is a division of time. It is natural, and then it consists of twenty-four hours; or artificial, which contains the time from the rising until the setting of the sun, except a short

mer. law, is an account book, in which merchants and others make entries of their daily transactions. This is generally a book of original entries, and as such the sale and deliver

OR DAY WRIT, in English practice, is a rule or order of the court, by which a prisoner on civil process, and not committed, is enabled, in term time, to go out of the prison, and i

Eng. practice, are days of appearance im the court of Common Pleas, usually called bancum. They are the distance of about a week from each other, and are regulated by some festival

are certain days after the time limited by the bill or note, which the acceptor or drawer has a right to demand for payment of the bill or note; these days were so called because t

The following effects follow the death of a partner; namely, 1, The partnership is dissolved, unless otherwise provided for by the articles of] ership; Gow’s Partn. 429; 2, he repr

English law, is that portion of the personal estate of a deceased man which remained after his wife and children had received their reasonable parts from his estate; which was, if

practice. A aid proceedings, which are deemed to be well done for the present, or until an exception or other avoidance; that is, conditionally, and in that meaning is the phrase u

Isa certificate given in pursuance of law, by the collector of a port of entry, for a certain sum due by the United States, payable at a time therein mentioned, to an importer for

pleading. He owes and detains. In an action of debt the form of the writ is either in the debet and detinet, that is, it states that the defendant owes and unjustly detains the deb

accounts, commerce; a term used in book-keeping to express the left hand page of the jedger, to which are carried all the articles supplied or paid on the subject of an account, or

This phrase is used to signify that the goods of a deceased person have not all been administered. When an executor or administrator has been appointed, and the estate is not fully

contracts, is a sum of money due by certain and express agreement, 3 Bl. Com. 154. In a less technical sense, as in the * act to regulate arbitrations and proceedings in courts of

puntshment, the punishment of putting a person to death by taking off his head.

practice. In tales, i. e. to appoint ten such men for the supply of jury men, when a sufficient number do not appear to make up a full jury.

pructice, is a judgment given by a competent tribunal. The French lawyers cal] the opinions which they give on questions propounded to them, decisions. Vide Inst. 1, 2, 8; Dig. 1,

a term used law. A decisory oath is decision of the cause. It may be} deferred in any kind of civil contest whatever, in questions of possession or of claim; in personal actions an

is the act by which an individual acknowledges that a property, the title of which he holds, does in fact belong to another, for whose use he holds the same. The instrument in whic

_ evidence, are the statements made by the parties to a transaction, in relation to the same. These declarations when proved are received in evidence for the purpose of illustratin

is that which explains something, without contain- — ing any new provision or obligation, as, a declaratory law.

med. jurisp. The operation of boiling certain ingredients in a fluid, for the purpose of extracting the parts soluble at that temperature. Decoction also means the product of this

practice, is the judgment or sentence ofa court of equity. It is either interlocutory or final. The former is given on some plea, or issue arising in the cause, which does not deci

conveyancing. I have given. This word amounts to a warranty in law, when it is in a deed; for example, if in a deed it be said, I have given, &c. to A B, this is a warranty to him

contracts. <A deed made by one party only is not indented, but polled or shaved quite even, and is, for this reason, called a deed-poll or single deed. Co. Litt. 299, a. A deed pol

practice, contracts. Is the reduction of the claim of one of the contracting parties against the other, by deducting from it a smaller claim due from the former to the latter. The

tort, is the speaking slanderous words of a person so as, de bonis fama aliquid detrahere, to hurt his good fame. V. Slander.

is the neglect to perform a legal obligation or duty; but in technical Janguage by default is understood the non-appearance of the defendant, within the time prescribed by law, to

com. law, one who is deficient in his accounts, or fails in making his accounts correct.

contracts, conveyancing, ig an instrument which defeats the force or operation of some other deed or estate. That, which in the same deed is called a condition, in another deed is

torts, is a forcible resistance of an attack by force. A man is justified in defending his and servants, and for this purpose he may use as much force as may be necessary, even to

pleading, practice, is defined to be the denial of the truth or validity of the complaint, and does not signify a justification. It is a general assertion that the plaintiff has no

a party who is sued in a personal action. Vide Demandant; Parties to actions; Pursuer; and Com. Dig. Abatement, F; Action upon the case upon assumpsit, E b.

canon law. The name by which the defendant or respondent is known in the ecclesiastical courts.

This latin term si nifies that something is wanting. i is used to express the deficiency which is discovered in the accounts of an accountant, or in the money which he has received

is that which terminates a suit; a definitive sentence or judgment is put in opposition to an interlocutory judgment. Final, (q. v.) -DEFORCIANT, is one who wrongfully keeps the ow

tort, in its which another person has a right. Co. Litt. 277; so that this includes as well an abatement, an intrusion, a disseisin, or a discontinuance as any other species of wro

in the law of Scotland, is the opposition given or resistance made, to messengers or other officers, while they are employed in executing the law. This crime is punished by confisc

a term used for one that is deceased or dead. In some acts of assembly in Pennsylvania, such deceased person is called a decedent (q. v-)

punishment tn the ecclestastical law, is a censure by which a clergyman is deprived of his holy orders, which he had as a priest or deacon. - DEGREE, descents. This word is derived

DO. Vide Homine Replegiando. —

Out of; without. By this word is understood something out of the record, agreement, will, or other thing spoken of; something foreign to the matter in question. DEL CREDERE; contra

pleading. The name of a replication in an action for a tort, that the defendant committed the trespasses or grievances of his own wrong without the cause by him in his plea alleged

The name of one of the original states of the United States of America. For a considerable time prior to the revolution the counties of this state were connected with Pennsylvania,

civil law, is the time allowed either by law or by agreement of the parties to do something. The make defence, toappeal; itadmitsofa delay during which an action may be brought, ce

civil law. It is a kind of novation, by which the original debtor, in order to be liberated from his creditor, gives him a third person, who becomes obliged in his stead to the cre

civil law. The act by which one person, by fraud or malignity, causes some damage or tort to some other. In its most enlar sense, this term includes all kinds of crimes and misdeme

practice, a term used by the clerk in court to every prisoner who is arraigned and pleads not gutlty, to whom he wishes a good deliverance. In modern practice this is seldom used.

conveyancing, is the transferring of a deed from the grantor to the grantee: or the delivery may be made and accepted by an attorney. This is indispensably necessary to the validit

contracts. Aclaim; a legal obligation. Lord Coke says that demand is a word of art, and of an extent, in its signification, greater than any other word except claim. Hence a releas

practice, is a request by one individual to another to doa particular thing. Demands are either express or implied. In many cases an express demand must be made before the commence

practice. He who brings a real action, who, in personal actions, is called plaintiff. Co. Litt. 127; 1 Com. Dig. 85.

A° man is said to be seised in his demesne as of fee of a corporeal inheritance because he has a property domintcum or demesne in the thing itself. 2 Bl. Com. 106.

in some universities and colleges this term is synonymous with scholars. Boyle on Charities, 129.

contracts, in its most extended signification is a conveyance either in fee, for life, or for years. In its more technical meaning, itis a lease or conveyance for a term of years.

government, is that form of government in which the sovereign power is exercised by the people in a body, as was the practice in some of the states of Ancient Greece; the term repr

is whatever is said or written to designate a thing or person; for example, a gift of so much money, with a fund particularly referred to for its payment, so that if the fund be no

mar. law. The freighter of a ship is bound not to detain it, beyond the stipulated or usual! time, to load, or to deliver the cargo, or to sail. The extra days beyond the lay days

(from the latin demorart, or old French demorrer, to wait or stay,) in pleading, imports, according to its etymology, that the objecting party will not proceed with the pleading, b

SPECIAL, in pleading. A special demurrer is one which excepts to the sufficiency of the pleadings on the opposite side, and shows specifically the nature of the objection and the p

an practice. A demurrer to evidence is analogous to a demurrer in pleading; the party from whom it comes declaring that he will not proceed, because the evidence offered on the oth

this is a barbarous corruption of demi sang, half-blood, (q. v.)

An ancient general term for any sort of pecunia numerata, or ready money. The French use the word denter in the same sense: payer de ses propres deniers.

Eng. law, is an alien born and who has obtained, ex donatione legis, letters-patent to make him an English subject. He is in a middle between a natural born subject and an alien. H

crim. law. vidual informs a public officer, whose duty it is to prosecute offenders, that. a crime has been committed. It differs from a complaint, (q. v.) Vide 1 Bro. C. L. 447; 2

English law. This word is derived from Deo dandum, to be given to God; and is meant to designate any unhappy instrument, whether it be an animal or inanimate thing which has caused

Vide Writ de odio et atia. DE PROPRIETATE PRO-

government. The laws of the United States provide that there shall be an executive department, denominated the department of state; and a principal officer therein, called the secr

A government. The act of the 7th of August, 1789, 1 Story’s Laws, 31, creates an executive department, to be denominated the department of war; and there shall be a principal offic

pleading, is said to be when a party quits or departs from the case or defence which he has first made, and has recourse to another; it is when his replication or rejoinder contain

is a territory distinct from the country in which the supreme sovereign power resides, but belonging rightfully to it, and subject to the laws and regulations which the sovereign m

witness, one who gives information on oath or afhrmation, respecting some facts known to him, before a magistrate; he who makes a deposition.

Inits most proper signification, is the destruction of the people of a country or place. This word is, however, taken rather in a passive than an active sense; we say depopulation,

civil law, was his rights as a citizen; it differed from relegation, (q. v.) and exile, (q- v-) 1 Bro. Civ. Law, 125 note; Inst. 1,12, l and 2; Dig. 48, 22, 14, 1.

contracts. He with whom a deposit is confided or made. Being a bailee without reward, the depositary is bound to slight diligence only, and he is not therefore answerable except fo

contracts, is he’ who makes a deposit.. He is generally entitled to receive the deposit from the depositary, but to this rule there are exceptions; as when ‘the depositor at the ti

ecclesiastical punishment, is a censure by which a clergyman is deprived of his parsonage, vicarage, or other ecclesiastical promotion or dignity. Vide Ayliff’s Parerg. 206; 1 Bl.

one authorised by an officer to exercise the office or right which the officer possesses, for and in place of the latter. In general ministerial officers can appoint deputies, Com.

civil law, are goods voluntarily abandoned by their owner; he must, however, leave them, not only ste spe revertendt, but also sine antmo fevertendt; his intention to abandon them

he engaged to perform a voyage, before the expiration of his time, and without leave. Desertion without just cause renders the sailor liable, on his shipping articles, for damages,

wills, is the expression used by a testator instead of the name of the person or the of such a person, would be a desig nation of the legatee. Vide 1 Rop- Leg. ch. 2. A bequest of

Of his own wrong. This term is usually applied to a person who, having no right to meddle with the affairs or estate of a deceased person, yet undertakes to do so, by acting as exe

in icp Oeern ment, is that abuse of government, where the sovereign power is not divided, but united in the hands of a single man, whatever may be his official title. It is not pro

pleading. This is a word with a technical meaning, which when inserted in an indictment for forcible entry and detainer has all the force of the words expelled or unlawfully, for t

wills, legactes, is the application which the testator directs shall be made of the legacy he gives; for example, when a testator gives to a hospital a sum of money, to be applied

1. The act of keeping a person against his will, or of keeping goods or property. All illegal detainers of the person amount to false imprisonment, and may be remedied by habeas co

practice, he detained. Where an action of replevin is instituted for goods which the defendant had taken but which he afterwards restored, it is said to be brought in the detenuit;

contracts. When a plan has been adopted for a building, and in the progress of the work a change has been made from the original plan, the change is called a deviation. When the co

practice, the name of an issue sent out of a court of chancery, or one which exercises chancery jurisdiction, to a court of law, to try the validity of a paper asserted and denied

Aday. There are four sorts of days: 1, a natural day; as, the morning and the evening made the first day; 2, an artificial day, that is from day-break until twilight in the evening

practice, is a day or time of respite given to a defendant in a suit..

£nglish law, are titles of honour. They are considered as incorporeal hereditaments. The genius of our government forbids their admission in the republic.