Custom
The Cyclopedic Law Dictionary · Walter A. Shumaker and George Foster Longsdorf; ed. James C. Cahill · 1922
The Cyclopedic Law Dictionary
Such a usage as by common consent and uniform practice has become the law of the place, or of the subject-matter, to which it relates. It differs from prescription, which is personal, and is annexed to the person of the owner of a particular estate; while the other is local, and relates to a particular district. An instance of the latter occurs where the question is upon the manner of conducting a particular branch of trade at a certain place; of the former, where a certain person and his ancestors, or those whose estates he has, have been entitled to a certain advantage or privilege, as to have common pf pasture in a certain close, or the like.
2 Bl. Comm. 263.
General customs are such as constitute a part of the common law, and extend to the whole country. Particular customs are those which are confined to a particular district.