Sacrilege
Defined in 5 dictionaries — Ballentine's (1916), Bouvier (1914), Black's (1910), Stimson (1881), Abbott (1879)
Ballentine's Law Dictionary
James A. Ballentine · 1916
Bouvier's Law Dictionary and Concise Encyclopedia
John Bouvier; revised by Francis Rawle · 1914
SACRILEGIUM. The act of stealing, from the temples or churches dedicated to the worship of God, articles consecrated to divine uses. Ayliffe, Parerg. 476; Cowell. It is a statutory offence in England. Also, the alienation to laymen of property given to pious uses. Par. Ant. 390.
Black's Law Dictionary
Henry Campbell Black, M.A. · 1910
In English criminal law. Larceny from a church. 4 Steph. Comm. 164. The crime of breaking a church or chapel, and stealing therein. 1 Russ. Crimes, 848.
In old English law. The desecration of anything considered holy; the alienation to lay-men or to profane or common purposes of what was given to religious persons and to pious uses. Cowell.
Glossary of Technical Terms, Phrases, and Maxims of the Common Law
Frederic Jesup Stimson · 1881
Larceny or other trespass in a church.
Dictionary of Terms and Phrases Used in American or English Jurisprudence
Benjamin Vaughan Abbott · 1879
The' offence of desecrating any thing that is consecrated to religious uses; despoiling churches, and the like. The alienation of lands which were given to religious purposes to laymen, or to profane and common purposes, was also, in old English law, termed sacrilege. Cowel.