Legal Term Dictionary

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  • BASILEUS
    A Greek word, meaning "king." A title assumed by the emperors of the Eastern Roman Empire. It is used by Justinian in some of the Novels; and is said to have been applied to the English kings before the Conquest. See 1 Bl. Comm. 242.
  • BASILICA
    The name given to a compilation of Roman and Greek law, prepared about A. D. 880 by the Emperor Basilius, and published by his successor, Leo the Philosopher. It was written in Greek, was mainly an abridgment of Justinian's Corpus Juris, and comprised sixty books, only a portion of which More...
  • BASILS
    In old English law. A kind of money or coin abolished by Henry II.
  • BASIN
    In admiralty law and marine insurance. A part of the sea inclosed in rocks. U. S. v. Morel, 13 Am. Jur. 286, 26 Fed. Cas. 1,310.
  • BASKET TENURE
    In feudal law. Lands held by the service of making the king's baskets.
  • BASSE JUSTICE
    In feudal law. Low justice; the right exercised by feudal lords of personally trying persons charged with trespasses or minor offenses.
  • BASTARD
    An illegitimate child; a child born of an unlawful intercourse, and while its parents are not united in marriage. Tim-mins v. Lacy, 30 Tex. 135; Miller v. Anderson, 43 Ohio St. 473, 3 N. E. 605, 54 Am. Rep. 823; Pettus v. Dawson, 82 Tex. 18, 17 S. W. 714; More...
  • BASTARDA
    In old English law. A female bastard. Fleta, lib. 5, c. 5, f 40.
  • BASTARDIZE
    To declare one a bastard, as a court does. To give evidence to prove one a bastard. A mother (married) cannot bastardize her child. Bas tardus nullius est Alius, ant nlins populi. A bastard is nobody's son, or the son of the people. Bastardus non potest habere hnrcdem nisi de More...
  • BASTARDY
    The offense of begetting a bastard child. The condition of a bastard. Dinkey v. Com., 17 Pa. 129, 55 Am. Dec. 542.
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