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AND CHARACTER, BY THE AUTHOR LAW CONCISE A TABLE OF ABBREVIATIONS WILL BE A. The first letter of the alphabet. It is used to distinguish the first page of' a folio, the second being marked "fr," thus: Coke, Litt. 114a, l\4b. It is also used as an abbreviation for many words of which it is the initial letter. See Abbreviation. In Latin phrases it is a preposition, denoting from, by, in, on, of, at, and is of common use as a part of a title. In French phrases it is also a preposition, denoting of, at, to, for, in, with. The article "a" is not necessarily a singular term, it is often used in the sense of "any," and is then applied to more than one individual object; National Union Bank v. Copeland. 141 Mass. 20G, 4 N. E. 794; Snowden v. Guion, 101 N. Y. 458, 5 N. E. 322; Thompson v. Stewart, GO la. 225, 14 N. W. 247; sometimes as the; 23 Ch. Div. 595. Among the Romans this letter was used in criminal trials. The judges were furnished with small tables covered with wax, and each one inscribed on It the initial letter of his vote: A (abso Jvo) when he voted to acquit the accused; C (condemno) when he was for condemnation; and N L (non liquet), when the matter did not appear clearly, and he desired a new argument. The letter A (1. e. antiquo, "for the old law") scribed upon Roman ballots under the Lex aria, to Indicate a negative vote; Tayl. Civ. Law, 191, 192. An abbreviation of adversus used for verms, indicating the parties to an action. An adulteress among the Puritans was condemned to wear the initial letter "A" in red cloth on her dress.

Legal doctrine. 1 Leon. 77.