A Law Dictionary and Glossary
1893 — browse every term in this dictionary, A–Z.
Showing the 7,587 terms defined in A Law Dictionary and Glossary. Browse all dictionaries
mair. In old Scots law. An officer to whom process was directed.
- Majestasdefined inCyclopedic (1922)Ballentine's (1916)Bouvier (1914)Black's (1910)Kinney (1893)Black's (1891)Abbott (1879)
I. In the Soman law. Majesty; the sovereign authority of the state; an offense against sovereignty, i. e. against the Roman people, more commonly termed crimen majestatis, or crime
I fr. Majesty, or high treason.
- Majordefined inCase LawCyclopedic (1922)Ballentine's (1916)Bouvier (1914)Black's (1910)Kinney (1893)Black's (1891)Stimson (1881)Abbott (1879)Bouvier (1839)
Z. Greater; the greater. Major annns: thq greater year; tte bissextile year, consisting of 366 days. Major nnmerus in se In old English lavs. A mayor. Major et commnnitas: mayor an
I. In old English law. Greater persons; persons of higher condition or estate.
I In the greater sum the less is included.
- Majoritydefined inCyclopedic (1922)Ballentine's (1916)Bouvier (1914)Black's (1910)Kinney (1893)Anderson (1889)Abbott (1879)Bouvier (1839)
The greater number, as of votes or voters; the civil condition of a person of full age.
- Makedefined inCase LawCyclopedic (1922)Ballentine's (1916)Bouvier (1914)Black's (1910)Kinney (1893)Black's (1891)Anderson (1889)Abbott (1879)
To do, or perform; to do in form of law; to fail to do; to agree to; to execute; to collect or procure; to swear to or affirm; to certify; to have effect Make over: to transfer; to
- Makerdefined inCyclopedic (1922)Ballentine's (1916)Bouvier (1914)Black's (1910)Kinney (1893)Black's (1891)
The person who makes a promissory note.
I Bad; bad or evil things; wrongs; offenses. Mala flde: in bad faith. Malee fldei possessor: a possessor in bad faith. Mala Itdes: bad faith. Mala gramniatica: bad grammar; — non v
- Maledefined inCyclopedic (1922)Ballentine's (1916)Bouvier (1914)Black's (1910)Kinney (1893)Black's (1891)Anderson (1889)Stimson (1881)Bouvier (1839)
I fr. Bad; ill. Male fame: bad character.
I. Badly; unfavorably. In old English law. Male creditns: unfavorably thought of; in bad repute or credit
I. In old English law. A wrong-doer; an offender; a criminal; a convicted criminal
- Malfeasancedefined inCyclopedic (1922)Ballentine's (1916)Bouvier (1914)Black's (1910)Kinney (1893)Black's (1891)Anderson (1889)Stimson (1881)Abbott (1879)Bouvier (1839)
malfeasance, malfesance, malfeazance, malfaisance, I. Jr. and engr. Wrong-doing; the doing of what one ought not to do. Slaleficia non debent remauere impnnita; et impnnitas contin
- Malicedefined inCase LawCyclopedic (1922)Ballentine's (1916)Bouvier (1914)Black's (1910)Kinney (1893)Black's (1891)Anderson (1889)Stimson (1881)
An intent wrongfully to injure another; a wanton or wilful disregard of the rights of another or of others generally; a spirit of mischief or of criminal indifference to duty to an
- Maliciousdefined inCase LawCyclopedic (1922)Ballentine's (1916)Black's (1910)Kinney (1893)Black's (1891)
Intentional or wilful; wanton; reckless; spiteful or malevolent. Malicious abandonment: the desertion of a wife or husband without just cause. Malicions injury: an injury committed
I. I. In old English poterit, nbi aliqnis in aliqna ntilis ad pngnandum: it may is in any part of his body disabled hem,
- Malitiadefined inBallentine's (1916)Black's (1910)Kinney (1893)Black's (1891)Anderson (1889)Abbott (1879)
I. An express evil design; malice. Malitia excogitata: meditated malice. Malitia prsecogitata: malice aforethought, evil intended beforehand. Malitia supplet aetatem: malice suppli
I. The wicked or malicious designs of men must be thwarted.
I. I In old English law. Maliciously.
Misconduct; corruption or extortion in ofl Sce.
I. Evil; wickedness; an evil; an offense or wrong; Malum in se: a wrong in itself; an act involving illegality from the very nature of the transaction, upon principles of natural,
- Malveillesdefined inCyclopedic (1922)Ballentine's (1916)Black's (1910)Kinney (1893)Black's (1891)Bouvier (1839)
I fr. Misdemeanors.
malveys, Z. /r. In old English law. Bad; defective; faulty. Malveis procuronrs: a term applied to those who packed juries.
- Mandefined inCyclopedic (1922)Bouvier (1914)Black's (1910)Kinney (1893)Black's (1891)Anderson (1889)Abbott (1879)Bouvier (1839)
In feudal law. A vassal; a tenant or feudatory.
- Manbotedefined inCyclopedic (1922)Bouvier (1914)Black's (1910)Kinney (1893)Black's (1891)Stimson (1881)
sax. In Saxon law. A pecuniary compensation paid to a lord for killing his man, that is, his vassal or tenant
I. In the Roman law. A purchaser, one who took the articles sold in his hand (qui manu cepif).
I. In the Roman law. To sell, alienate or make over to another; to sell with cei-tain formali Hes; to sell a person; one of the forms observed in the process of emancipation.
I. In the Roman law. A kind of sale in the presence of five witnesses, accompanied with delivery of ■ possession or seisin; the purchaser taking the thing sold in his hand; the ima
I. In the Roman law. A slave; so called, because taken from the enemy by hand.
I. In old Roman law. The name of one of the leading divisions of private property, the precise meaning of which is not settled.
- Mandamusdefined inCase LawCyclopedic (1922)Ballentine's (1916)Bouvier (1914)Black's (1910)Kinney (1893)Black's (1891)Stimson (1881)Abbott (1879)
I. We command; a writ, formerly prerogative, issued out of a superior court, directing a person, a court an officer or a corporation, either public or private, to perform some duty
- Mandansdefined inCyclopedic (1922)Ballentine's (1916)Black's (1910)Kinney (1893)Black's (1891)Stimson (1881)
I. In the civil law. One who gives a thing in charge to another; one who requests or employs another to do some act for him.
I. In old English law. To command; to commit; to make return to a writ Mandare execatioui: to commit to execution, to put in execution. In the civil law. To give in charge; to comm
I. In the civil law. A mandatary. Mandatarins terminos sibi positos transgredi uon potest: a mandatary cannot exceed the limits assigned hira.
- Mandatarydefined inCase LawCyclopedic (1922)Ballentine's (1916)Bouvier (1914)Kinney (1893)Black's (1891)Abbott (1879)Bouvier (1839)
One to whom a charge or commandment is given; in the law of bailment, one who is employed to do some act without reward, in regard to property bailed to him.
- Mandatedefined inCase LawCyclopedic (1922)Ballentine's (1916)Bouvier (1914)Black's (1910)Kinney (1893)Black's (1891)Anderson (1889)Abbott (1879)Bouvier (1839)
A kind of bailment when one undertakes, without recompense, to do some act for another, in respect to the thing bailed; a judicial command; that part or clause of a writ containing
I. In old English law. The mandate or warrant of court In the civil law. That kind of bailment in which one party gives something in charge to the other to do for him, and the latt
- Mandatordefined inCyclopedic (1922)Ballentine's (1916)Bouvier (1914)Black's (1910)Kinney (1893)Black's (1891)Bouvier (1839)
I. In the civil law. One who gives a thing in charge to another; one who employs another to do some act for him in regard to property bailed.
- Mandavi ballivodefined inBallentine's (1916)Bouvier (1914)Black's (1910)Kinney (1893)Black's (1891)Abbott (1879)
I. In English law. I have commanded, or made my mandate to the bailiflr; the return made by a sheriff, where the bailiff of a liberty has the execution of the writ.
mundhrich, sax. In Saxon law. Violation of the mund or king's protection; a breaking of enclosures.
pi manentes, 1. 1. In Saxon and old English law. A kind of tenant inhabiting a manse; an agricultural tenant.
I. t In old English law. A manor; a manor house. Manerium dicltnr a manendo, secundum excellentiam; sedes magna, flxa et stabilis: it is called manor from manendo, par excellence;
I. fr. In spite of; against the will of. v. Malgre.
- Manifestdefined inU.S. CodeCyclopedic (1922)Ballentine's (1916)Bouvier (1914)Black's (1910)Kinney (1893)Black's (1891)Anderson (1889)Stimson (1881)Abbott (1879)
One of a ship's papers, containing a specification of the nature and quantity of the cargo laden, the place where it was taken on board, and the port for which it is destined, with
/. Clear; evident; manifest Manifesta probatione non indigent: clear things need no proof.
I. I. In old English law. Done with the hand; manual.
I. I. In old English law. To become surety; to offer one's self as a surety to redeem another from imprisonment, and to have him in court at an appointed day.
1 1. In old English law. Manucaption; surety or security.
- Manordefined inCase LawCyclopedic (1922)Ballentine's (1916)Black's (1910)Kinney (1893)Stimson (1881)Abbott (1879)
In American law. A tract of land occupied by tenants who pay a fee-farm rent to the proprietor, sometimes in kind, and sometimes in the performance of certain stipulated services.
In old English law. A habitation or dwelling, generally with land attached; a residence or dwelling-house for the parish priest The word is still used in the latter sense in Scotla
Z. Z. In old English law. A dwelling; a mansion. mansion. A dwelling-house. Mansion-house: in its common sense, includes not only the'dwelling-house, but also all out-houses, if pa
Homicide without malice, either express or implied, which may be either voluntarily, upon a sudden heat, or involuntarily, but in the commission of some unlawful act, or with crimi
I. In the civil law. Tame; tamed; as though accustomed to come to fhe hand. M^saeto naturas, I. Tamed; of a domestic nature.
I. In the civil law. With a short hand; directly; without circuity. Mauu longa: indirectly; circuitously.
I. I. In old English law. A surety for another's appearance. V. Mainpernor.
- Manufacturedefined inCase LawU.S. CodeCyclopedic (1922)Bouvier (1914)Black's (1910)Kinney (1893)Black's (1891)Abbott (1879)
The process of making a thing by art; a thing so made.
- Manumissiondefined inCase LawCyclopedic (1922)Ballentine's (1916)Bouvier (1914)Black's (1910)Kinney (1893)Anderson (1889)Bouvier (1839)
In the Boman and old European law. The giving of a slave or bondman his liberty; the discharging of one from the power of another.
I. In civil and old European law. To set free; to send, dismiss or discharge out of the hand, or power. Manumittere idem est quod extra mannm vel potestatem ponere: to manumit is t
In old English law. Capable of being had or held in hand; capable of being cultivated; tangible: corporeal.
- Manuredefined inBallentine's (1916)Bouvier (1914)Black's (1910)Kinney (1893)Black's (1891)Anderson (1889)Stimson (1881)
I. fr. In old English law. To occupy; to bestow manual labor upon; to use or cultivate.
- Manusdefined inBallentine's (1916)Black's (1910)Kinney (1893)Black's (1891)Anderson (1889)Stimson (1881)Abbott (1879)Bouvier (1839)
I. In old English laiv. A hand; an oath, as taken with the hand on the gospels; a person making oath; a compurgator; a degree or condition. Manu brevi: with a short hand; briefly.
A writing of any kind; an unpubjished literary production.
- Manutenentiadefined inCyclopedic (1922)Ballentine's (1916)Bouvier (1914)Black's (1910)Kinney (1893)Black's (1891)
I. I. In old English law. Maintenance.
I. I. In old English law. To maintain; to support, assist or defend; to assist one in carrying on his suit. Manntenere placitum — querelam: to maintain one's plea — plaint.
In old English law. The price or value of a man's life or head.
sc. In old Scots law. Maihem.
A delineation of the features of a portion of the earth's surface ■within such a compass as to facilitate a comprehension of its character and appearance.
marcha, uiarchia, 1. 1. A limit or bound; a boundary line or border.
In Scots law. A boundary line or border. March-dike, marchstone: a boundary dike or stone.
- Marchersdefined inCyclopedic (1922)Ballentine's (1916)Bouvier (1914)Black's (1910)Kinney (1893)Black's (1891)
In old English law. Noblemen who Uved on the marches of Wales or Scotland.
- Marchesdefined inBallentine's (1916)Bouvier (1914)Black's (1910)Kinney (1893)Black's (1891)Abbott (1879)Bouvier (1839)
Limits; bounds or borders; particularly borders between England and Wales, and borders between England and Scotland.
- Marchetadefined inCyclopedic (1922)Ballentine's (1916)Bouvier (1914)Black's (1910)Kinney (1893)Black's (1891)Stimson (1881)
marchetuin, merchetnm, marchet, merchet. In old English law. A fine paid for leave to marry, or to bestow a daughter in marriage; a maid's fee. In old Scots law. A custom for the l
I. I. In old English, law. A march, or border. In feudal law. The dignity or territory of a marchio.
A monk of the seventh century, author of collections of Formulae, of great celebrity.
- Maredefined inBallentine's (1916)Bouvier (1914)Black's (1910)Kinney (1893)Black's (1891)Stimson (1881)
I. The sea. Mare altum: the high sea. Mare apertnm: the open sea.,
I. l, Mareschaucie, I. fr. In old English law. Marshalsea; the office of marshal; a species of grand serjeanty, granted in fee to the Earl [now Duke] of Norfolk.
marescalcns, marascalcus, mariscaldas, 1. 1 In old English law. An officer of the royal household, who guarded the sovereign's person; a high officer of state, with certain judicia
I. fr. Marshal; a high officer of the royal household.
t/r. In old English and feudal law. The right of marriage;
I. fr. To marry. Marie: married. Marie ou dismarie: married or unmarried.
- Marinedefined inBallentine's (1916)Bouvier (1914)Black's (1910)Kinney (1893)Anderson (1889)Abbott (1879)Bouvier (1839)
Relating to the sea, to navigation, to commerce on the sea, etc. Marine contract: v. Maritime. Marine insurance: a contract of indemnity against the perils of the sea. Marine tort:
- Marinerdefined inCyclopedic (1922)Ballentine's (1916)Bouvier (1914)Black's (1910)Kinney (1893)Black's (1891)Abbott (1879)Bouvier (1839)
A person employed on a ship in any capacity having to do with her equipment or preservation, or with the welfare of the crew. Maris et feminse conjunctio est de jure naturae, I. Th
- Maritagiumdefined inBallentine's (1916)Black's (1910)Kinney (1893)Anderson (1889)Stimson (1881)Abbott (1879)Bouvier (1839)
I. I. In feudal and old English law. Marriage; the right of a lord to dispose of his infant ward in marriage; a portion given with a woman to her husband in marriage. Maritagiuin l
I, L In old English law. The revenue coming to the king from the sea, anciently collected by the sheriffs, but afterwards granted to the admiral. Maritima incrementa: marine increa
- Maritimedefined inCyclopedic (1922)Ballentine's (1916)Bouvier (1914)Black's (1910)Kinney (1893)Black's (1891)Anderson (1889)
Pertaining to navigation or to commercial intercourse upon the seas, and, in this country, upon the great lakes and navigable rivers. Maritime cause: a cause of action originating
- Marketdefined inCase LawU.S. CodeBallentine's (1916)Bouvier (1914)Black's (1910)Kinney (1893)Black's (1891)Anderson (1889)Abbott (1879)Bouvier (1839)
A place for the public sale of commodities; a place of public traffic. Market place: usually a market-place, but may mean either centers. Market price, or value: a, price sales in
Marlebridge, statute of. The statute confirming the Great Charter and the Charter containing provisions in regard to tenures, ministration of justice, abolishing fines for ing the
The frontier, border or boundary line of letters of: permission given by the sovereign another country with reference to the apprehension of the sovereign of the latter within the
marquis. Jn English law. A degree that of duke, — so called from the ancient to guard the marches of the kingdom, Wales and Scotland.
- Marriagedefined inCase LawCyclopedic (1922)Ballentine's (1916)Bouvier (1914)Black's (1910)Kinney (1893)Black's (1891)Stimson (1881)Bouvier (1839)
An engagement by which in form woman capable of entering into such an other for husband and wife; the act or ceremony engagement is solemnized; the relation which articles: article
- Marshaldefined inCyclopedic (1922)Ballentine's (1916)Bouvier (1914)Black's (1910)Kinney (1893)Black's (1891)Abbott (1879)Burrill (1850)
In American law. The ministeral oificer with duties similar to those of a sheriff; an ' cities with duties similar to those of a petty In English law. Marshal, mareschal: the title
To arrange, rank, or set in order; to arrange words in a certain order; to construe. Marshaling' assets: the arranging or ranking of assets in a certain order toward the payment of
I. In the civil law. To run by its own force, — a term applied to a suit, which ran its course to the end, without impediment.
- Martial lawdefined inCyclopedic (1922)Ballentine's (1916)Black's (1910)Kinney (1893)Black's (1891)Stimson (1881)
A system of rules for the government of an army, or adopted in times of actual war ■ an arbitrary kind of law sometimes established in a district occupied by an armed force, by whi
1. 1. In old Scots law. A maire; an officer or executor of summons.
- Masterdefined inCase LawU.S. CodeCyclopedic (1922)Ballentine's (1916)Bouvier (1914)Black's (1910)Kinney (1893)Black's (1891)Anderson (1889)Abbott (1879)Bouvier (1839)
A person having authority; one who directs or superintends or instructs; one who has superior skill; one who hires or employs; one who has command of a merchant vessel and care of
- Matedefined inCyclopedic (1922)Ballentine's (1916)Bouvier (1914)Black's (1910)Kinney (1893)Black's (1891)Abbott (1879)
The officer next to the master on board a vessel, who on death, or in absence, of the master succeeds virtute officii to the care and command of the ship.
I. I. Matter; substance; subject-matter, y. In pari.
Any article or substance used in the building or the repair of houses, ships, etc. Material man: one who furnishes any article or substance for such building or repair.