Legal Term Dictionary

Search our free database of thousands of legal terms. The easiest-to-read, most user-friendly guide to legal terms.This dictionary is from the early 20th century and is not to be construed as legal advice.

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  • MESSUAGE
    This term is. now synonymous with "dwelling-house," but had once a more extended signification. It is frequently used in deeds, in describing the premises. Marmet Co. v. Archibald, 37 W. Va. 778, 17 S. E. 300; Grimes v. Wilson, 4 Blackf. (Ind.) 333; Derby v. Jones, 27 Me. 360; Davis More...
  • MESTIZO
    A mongrel or person of mixed blood; sometimes used as equivalent to "octoroon," that is, the child of a white person and a quadroon, sometimes as denoting a person one of whose parents was a Spaniard and the other an American Indian.
  • META
    Lat. A goal, bound, or turning-point In old English law, the term was used to denote a bound or boundary line of land; a landmark; a material object as a tree or a pillar, marking the position or beginning of a boundary line.
  • METACHRONISM
    An error in computation of time.
  • METALLUM
    Lat. In Roman law. Metal; a mine. Labor in mines, as a punishment for crime. Dig. 40, 5, 24, 5; Calvin.
  • METATUS
    In old European law. A dwelling; a seat; a station; quarters; the place where one lives or stays. Spelman.
  • METAYER SYSTEM
    A system of agricultural holdings, under which the land is divided, in small farms, among single families, the landlord generally supplying the stock which the agricultural system of the country is considered to require, and receiving, in lieu of rent and profit, a fixed proportion of the produce. This proportion, More...
  • METECORN
    A measure or portion of corn, given by a lord to customary tenants as a reward and encouragement for labor. Cowell.
  • METEGAVEL
    A tribute or rent paid in victuals. CowelL
  • METER
    An instrument of measurement; as a coal-meter, a gas-meter, a land-meter.
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