French

Law-French, which is used in old law-books and legal proceedings, exhibits many terms and idioms not employed in classic French. Under William the Norman and his sons, all the public proceedings of the courts, including arguments and decisions, were expressed in Norman law-French. In the thirty-sixth year of Edward III (1363), it was enacted that all pleas should be shown, answered, debated, and judged in the English tongue, but be entered and enrolled in Latin, which, being a dead language, was immutable. However, the practitioners and reporters continued to take notes in the customary law- French. This law-French differs as much from modern French as the diction of Chaucer differs from the diction of Addison. English and Norman being concurrently used for several centuries, the two idioms assimilated and borrowed from each other.= " The constitution of the aula regis, and the judges themselves, were fetched from Normandy; in consequence, proceedings in the king's courts were carried on in Norman." " Norman-French, as employed about the courts, was often intermixed with scraps of Latin and pure English.' See Latin. 1 Brittain v. Bamaby, 21 How. 533 (1858). ' Thd Joseph Farwell, 31 F. E. 844 (1887). ! See 3 Kent, 173; 3 Johns. 105. ' Hunter v. Prinsep, 10 East, 394(1808), EUenborough, C. J. Approved, The Tornado, 108 U. S.' 347, 349 (1883), Blatchf ord, J. 5 [3 Bl. Com. 317-18.] FREQUElfT, V. A single visit to a place, or once passing through a street, cannot be said to be a "frequenting " that place or street. May be used in contradistinction to " found," which applies to the case of a person apprehended in a building or inclosed ground, where the necessary inference would be that the purpose was unlawful, in which case it would be enough to show that the party was in the. place only once.^ Webster's definition- " visiting often, resorting to often or habitually," expresses the popular understanding. What amounts to " frequenting " a street must depend upon circumstances.*

which are of common is not a compilation of law, consists purely of definition. or Scotch terms have been the common-law courts. popular and usual acceptation same rough and general the mind of the trained hint of its more correct and information must then be otherwise mentioned, the common law of England; the thing defined is only It has been impossible the book exhaustive; but it has been made of the more and maxims; and that, in amount of matter in the an attempt to produce a concise common English an explanation English as well as Saxon, Latin, or technical use in the law. It like the larger dictionaries, but Only such cirQ law, canon law, introduced as are often used in The writer has sought to give the of each phrase, in much the shape in which it would stand in lawyer; only occasionally adding a exact meaning. More definite sought in the text-books. Unless definition is given according to the and the date or present existence of roughly indicated by the tense. within the limits assigned to make is hoped that a judicious selection important catchwords, writs, courts, seeking to compress the greatest smallest possible space, the author has Tke black-faced type is used for all the present caption; the Italic is always not emphasis. Thus the frequent use "v.," "see," and " q. v." is avoided. always to refer to a term so Italicized, tion, as it will frequently be found to the present definition. Literal translations, nations, are put in parentheses; tory additions, in brackets. The words English unless otherwise indicated, and the same language follow without a