Mandamus
Glossary of Technical Terms, Phrases, and Maxims of the Common Law · Frederic Jesup Stimson · 1881
Glossary of Technical Terms, Phrases, and Maxims of the Common Law
/. (We command.) A writ, formerly prerogative, issuing out of a superior court to an inferior court, a public or private corporation, or an officer, directing them to perform some public, ministerial, or official duty, or to restore the complainant to his rights and privileges. If peremptory, it directed the defendant to perform its orders absolutely; if alternative, to do so, or show cause to the contrary.