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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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PEON
In Mexico. A debtor held by his creditor in a qualified servitude to work out the debt; a serf. Webster. In India. A footman; -a soldier; an inferior officer; a servant employed in the business of the revenue, police, or judicature.

In Mexico. A debtor held by his creditor in a qualified servitude to work out the debt; a serf. Webster. In India. A footman; -a soldier; an inferior officer; a servant employed in the business of the revenue, police, or judicature. Less...
PEONAGE
The state or condition of a peon as above defined; a condition of enforced servitude, by which the servitor is restrained of his liberty and compelled to labor in liquidation of some debt or obligation, real or pretended, against his will. Peonage Cases (D. C.) 123 Fed. 671; In re More...

The state or condition of a peon as above defined; a condition of enforced servitude, by which the servitor is restrained of his liberty and compelled to labor in liquidation of some debt or obligation, real or pretended, against his will. Peonage Cases (D. C.) 123 Fed. 671; In re Lewis (C. C.) 114 Fed. 963; U. S. v. McClel-lan (D. C.) 127 Fed. 971; Rev. St. U. S. ? 5526 (U. S. Comp. St. 1901, p. 3715). Less...
PEONIA
In Spanish-American law. A lot of land of fifty feet front, and one hundred feet deep. Originally tbe portion granted to foot-soldiers of spoils taken or lands conquered in war.

In Spanish-American law. A lot of land of fifty feet front, and one hundred feet deep. Originally tbe portion granted to foot-soldiers of spoils taken or lands conquered in war. Less...
PEOPLE
A state; as the people of the state of New York. A nation in its collective and political capacity. Nesbltt v. Lush-ington, 4 Term R. 783; U. S. v. Quincy, 6 Pet. 467, 8 L. Ed. 458; U. S. v. Trumbull (V. C.) 48 Fed. 99. In a more restricted More...

A state; as the people of the state of New York. A nation in its collective and political capacity. Nesbltt v. Lush-ington, 4 Term R. 783; U. S. v. Quincy, 6 Pet. 467, 8 L. Ed. 458; U. S. v. Trumbull (V. C.) 48 Fed. 99. In a more restricted sense, and as generally used in constitutional law, the entire body of those citizens of a state or nation who are invested with political power for political purposes, that is, the qualified voters or electors. See Koehler v. Hill, 60 Iowa, 543, 15 N. W. 609; Dred Scott v. Sandford, 19 How. 404, 15 L. Ed. 691; Boyd v. Nebraska, 143 U. S. 135, 12 Sup. Ct 375, 36 L. Ed. 103; Rogers v. Jacob, 88 Ky. 502, 11 S. W. 513; People v. Counts, 89 Cal. 15, 26 Pac. 612; Blair v. Ridgely, 41 Mo. 63, 97 Am. Dec. 248; Beverly v. Sabin, 20 111. 357; In re Incurring of State Debts, 19 R. I. 610, 37 Ati. 14. The word "people" may have various significations according to the connection in which it is used. When we speak of the rights of the people, or of the government of the people by law, or of the people as a non-political aggregate, we mean all the inhabitants of the state or nation* without distinction as to sex, age, or otherwise; But when reference is made to the people as the repository of sovereignty, or as the source of governmental power, or to- popular government. We are in fact speaking of that selected and limited class of citizens to whom the constitution accords the elective franchise and the right of participation in the offices of government Black, Const Law (3d Ed.) p. 30. Less...
PEPPERCORN
A dried berry of the black pepper. In English law, the reservation of a merely nominal rent, on a lease, is sometimes expressed by a stipulation for the payment of a peppercorn.

A dried berry of the black pepper. In English law, the reservation of a merely nominal rent, on a lease, is sometimes expressed by a stipulation for the payment of a peppercorn. Less...
PER
Lat By. When a writ of entry is sued out against the alienee of the original intruder or disseisor, or against his heir to whom the land has descended, it is said to be brought "in the per," because the writ then states that the tenant had not.entry but by More...

Lat By. When a writ of entry is sued out against the alienee of the original intruder or disseisor, or against his heir to whom the land has descended, it is said to be brought "in the per," because the writ then states that the tenant had not.entry but by (per) the original wrong-doer. 3 BL Comm. 181. Less...
PER AES ET LIBRAM
Lat. In Roman law. The sale per ess et libram (with copper and scales) was a ceremony used in transferring res mancipi, in the emancipation of a son or slave, and in one of the forms of making a will. The parties having assembled, with a number of witnesses, and More...

Lat. In Roman law. The sale per ess et libram (with copper and scales) was a ceremony used in transferring res mancipi, in the emancipation of a son or slave, and in one of the forms of making a will. The parties having assembled, with a number of witnesses, and one who held a balance or scales, the purchaser struck the scales with a copper coin, repeating a formula by which he claimed the subject-matter of the transaction as his property, and handed the coin to the vendor. Less...
PER ALLUVIONEM
Lat. In the civil law. By alluvion, or the gradual and imperceptible increase arising from deposit by water. Per allntrionem id videtnr adjioi qned ita panlatim adjioitnr nt intelligere non possnmns qnantnm qnoqno momenta temporis adjiciatnr. That is said to he added by alluvion which is so added little by More...

Lat. In the civil law. By alluvion, or the gradual and imperceptible increase arising from deposit by water. Per allntrionem id videtnr adjioi qned ita panlatim adjioitnr nt intelligere non possnmns qnantnm qnoqno momenta temporis adjiciatnr. That is said to he added by alluvion which is so added little by little that we cannot tell how much is added at any one moment of time. Dig. 41, 1, 7, 1; Fleta. 1. 3, c. 2, f 6. Less...
PER AND CUI
When a writ of entry is brought against a second alienee pr . descendant from the disseisor, it is said to be in the per and cui, because the form of the writ is that the tenant had not entry but by and under a prior alienee, to whom the More...

When a writ of entry is brought against a second alienee pr . descendant from the disseisor, it is said to be in the per and cui, because the form of the writ is that the tenant had not entry but by and under a prior alienee, to whom the intruder himself demised it. 8 Bl. Comm. 181. Less...
PER AND POST
To come in in the per is to claim by or through the person last entitled to an estate; as the heirs or assigns of the grantee. To come in in the post is to claim by a paramount and prior title; as the lord by escheat.

To come in in the per is to claim by or through the person last entitled to an estate; as the heirs or assigns of the grantee. To come in in the post is to claim by a paramount and prior title; as the lord by escheat. Less...

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