Degree
Defined in 4 dictionaries — Ballentine's (1916), Black's (1910), Kinney (1893), Black's (1891)
Ballentine's Law Dictionary
James A. Ballentine · 1916
Black's Law Dictionary
Henry Campbell Black, M.A. · 1910
In the law of descent and family relations. A step or grade, i. e., the distance or number of removes, which separates two persons who are related by consanguinity. Thus we speak of cousins in the "second degree."
In criminal law. The term "degree" denotes a division or classification of one specific crime into several grades or stadia of guilt, according to the circumstances attending its commission. Thus, in some states, there may be "murder in the second degree."
A Law Dictionary and Glossary
George C. Kinney · 1893
One of a series of steps upward or downward. Degree of relationship: a step In kinship, reckoning, in the canon law, from the person furthest from the common ancestor to the ancestor; in the civil law, from one person to the ancestor and down to the other. From any person to the one nearest in kinship is a degrea
A Dictionary of Law
Henry Campbell Black · 1891
In the law of descent and family relations. A step or grade, 3. e., the distance, or number of removes, which Separates two persons who are related by consanguinity. Thus we speak of cousins in the “second degree.” In criminal law. The term “degree” denotes a division or classification of one specilic crime into several grades or stadia of guilt, according to the circumstances attending its commission. Thus, in some states, there may be “murder in the second degree.”