Legal Term Dictionary

A gratuity, or an unusual or additional benefit conferred upon, or compensation paid to, a class of persons. Iowa v. McFarland, 110 U. S. 471, 4 Sup. Ct. 210, 28 L. Ed. 198. A premium given or offered to induce men to enlist into the public service. The term Is More...

A gratuity, or an unusual or additional benefit conferred upon, or compensation paid to, a class of persons. Iowa v. McFarland, 110 U. S. 471, 4 Sup. Ct. 210, 28 L. Ed. 198. A premium given or offered to induce men to enlist into the public service. The term Is applicable only to the payment made to the enlisted man, as the inducement for his service, and not to a premium paid to the man through whose intervention, and by whose procurement, the recruit is obtained and mustered. Abbe v. Allen, 39 How. Prac. (N. Y.) 488. It is not easy to discriminate between bounty, reward, and bonus. The former is the appropriate term, however, where the services or action of many persons are desired, and each who acts upon the offer may entitle himself to the promised gratuity, without prejudice from or to the claims of others; while reward is more proper in the case of a single service, which can be only once performed, and therefore will be earned only by the person or co-operative persons who succeed while others fail. Thus, bounties are offered to all who will enlist in the army or navy; to all who will engage in certain fisheries which government desire to encourage; to all who kill dangerous beasts or noxious creatures. A reward is offered for rescuing a person from a wreck or fire; for detecting and arresting an offender; for finding a lost chattel. Kircher v. Murray, (C. C.) 54 Fed. 624; Ingram v. Colgan, 106 Cal. 113, 38 Pac. 315, 28 L. R. A. 187, 46 Am. St. Rep. 221. Bonus, as compared with bounty, suggests the idea of a gratuity to induce a money transaction between individuals; a percentage or gift, upon a loan or transfer of property, or a surrender of a right. Abbott. -Bounty lands. Portions of the public domain given to soldiers for military services, by way of bounty.-Bounty of Queen Anne. A name given to a royal charter, which was confirmed by 2 Anne, c. 11, whereby all the revenue of first-fruits and tenths was vested in trustees, to form a perpetual fund for the augmentation of poor ecclesiastical livings. Wharton.-Military bounty land. Land granted by various laws of the United States, by way of bounty, to soldiers for services1 rendered in the army; being given in lieu of a money payment. Less...

In old French law. An assemblage of houses surrounded with walls; a fortified town or village. In old English law. A borough, a village.

In old French law. An assemblage of houses surrounded with walls; a fortified town or village. In old English law. A borough, a village. Less...

In old French law. The inhabitant of a bourg, (q. v.) A person entitled to the privileges of a municipal corporation; a burgess.

In old French law. The inhabitant of a bourg, (q. v.) A person entitled to the privileges of a municipal corporation; a burgess. Less...

Fr. An exchange; a stock-exchange.

Fr. An exchange; a stock-exchange. Less...

In the French law. An aggregation, sanctioned by government, of merchants, captains of vessels, exchange agents, and courtiers, the two latter being nominated by the government, in each city which has a bourse. Brown.

In the French law. An aggregation, sanctioned by government, of merchants, captains of vessels, exchange agents, and courtiers, the two latter being nominated by the government, in each city which has a bourse. Brown. Less...

In French marine law. A compass; the mariner's compass.

In French marine law. A compass; the mariner's compass. Less...

Dutch. In old New York law. A farm; a farm on which the farmer's family resided.

Dutch. In old New York law. A farm; a farm on which the farmer's family resided. Less...

Dutch. In old New York law. A farmer.

Dutch. In old New York law. A farmer. Less...

As much land as one ox can cultivate. Said by some to be thirteen, by others eighteen, acres in extent Skene; Spelman; Co. Litt 5a.

As much land as one ox can cultivate. Said by some to be thirteen, by others eighteen, acres in extent Skene; Spelman; Co. Litt 5a. Less...

An under-officer of the forest, whose duty it was to oversee and true inquisition make, as well of sworn men as unsworn, in every bailiwick of the forest; and of all manner of trespasses done, either to vert or venison, and cause them to be presented, without any concealment, in More...

An under-officer of the forest, whose duty it was to oversee and true inquisition make, as well of sworn men as unsworn, in every bailiwick of the forest; and of all manner of trespasses done, either to vert or venison, and cause them to be presented, without any concealment, in the next court of attachment, etc. Cromp. Jur. 201. Less...