Messuage

A term used in conveyancing, and nearly synonymous with "dwelling house." A grant of a messuage with the to it, as also its curtilage, garden, and orchard, together with the close on which the house is built.

Co. Litt. 5b; 2 Saund. 400; Hammond, N. P. 189; 4 Cruise, Dig. 321; 2 Term. R. 502; 4 Blackf. (Ind.) 331.

But see the cases cited in 9 Barn. & C. 681. This term, it is said, includes a church.

11 Coke, 26; 2 Esp. 528; 1 Salk. 256; 8 Barn. & C. 25. And see 3 Wils. 141; 2 W. Bl. 726; 4 Mees. & W. 567; 2 Bing. (N. C.) 617; 1 Saund. 6.

META (Lat.) The goal of a Roman racecourse; a mark or object about which the chariots turned, and where the course ended. In Old English Law. A boundary line; a border or terminus. Properly, a visible object, standing upon the line, as a stone or tree, and showing where it ended; a butt. See "Butts and Bounds." Bundae et meiae, et rationabiles divisae quae ponuntur in terminis et. finibus agrorum, ad distinguendum praedia et dominia vicinorum, bounds and metes and reasonable divisions which are set on the borders and limits of lands, in order to distinguish the estates and properties of neighbors. Bracton, fols.

166b, 167; Pleta, lib. 2, c. 41, § 30.

Pro metis et terminis ponendis.

Mag. Rot. 3 Hen. III. rot. 14b.

METALLUM (Lat.) In the Roman law. Metal; a mine. Labor in mines, as a punishment for crime.

Dig. 40. 5. 24. 5; Calv. Lex. METATUS (Law Lat.) In old European law.

A dwelling; a seat; a station; quarters; the place where one lives or stays.

Spelman.