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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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M.
This letter, used as a Roman numeral, stands for one thousand. It was also, In old English law, a brand or stigma impressed upon tbe brawn of the thumb of a person convicted of manslaughter and admitted to the benefit of clergy. This letter was sometimes put on the face More...

This letter, used as a Roman numeral, stands for one thousand. It was also, In old English law, a brand or stigma impressed upon tbe brawn of the thumb of a person convicted of manslaughter and admitted to the benefit of clergy. This letter was sometimes put on the face of treasury notes of the United States, and signifies that the treasury note bears interest at the rate of one mill per centum, and not one per centum interest. U. S. v. Hardy-man, 13 Pet. 176, 10 L. Ed. 113. M. also stands as an abbreviation for several words of which it is the initial letter; as "Mary," (the English queen of that name,) "Michaelmas," "master," "middle." Less...
M. D.
An abbreviation for "Middle District," in reference to the division of the United States into judicial districts. Also an abbreviation for "Doctor of Medicine."

An abbreviation for "Middle District," in reference to the division of the United States into judicial districts. Also an abbreviation for "Doctor of Medicine." Less...
M. R.
An abbreviation for "Master of the Rolls."

An abbreviation for "Master of the Rolls." Less...
M. T.
An abbreviation for "Michaelmas Term."

An abbreviation for "Michaelmas Term." Less...
MACE
A large staff, made of the precious metals, and highly ornamented. It is used as an emblem of authority, and carried before certain public functionaries by a mace-bearer. In many legislative bodies, tbe mace is employed as a visible symbol of the dignity and collective authority of the house; In More...

A large staff, made of the precious metals, and highly ornamented. It is used as an emblem of authority, and carried before certain public functionaries by a mace-bearer. In many legislative bodies, tbe mace is employed as a visible symbol of the dignity and collective authority of the house; In the house of lords and house of commons of the British parliament, it is laid npon the table when the house is in session. In the United States house of representatives, it is borne upright by the sergeant-at-arms on extraordinary occasions, as when it is necessary to quell a disturbance or bring refractory members to order. -Mace-bearer. In English law.. One who carries the mace before certain functionaries. In Scotland, an officer attending the court of session, and usually called a "macer."-Mace-proof. Secure against arrest.-Macer. A mace-bearer; an officer attending the court of session in Scotland. Less...
MACE-GREFF
In old English law. One who buys stolen goods, particularly food, knowing it to have been stolen.

In old English law. One who buys stolen goods, particularly food, knowing it to have been stolen. Less...
MACEDONIAN DECREE
In Roman law. This was the Senotus-consultum Mace-donianum, a decree of the Roman senate, first given under Claudius, and renewed under Vespasian, by which It was declared that no action should be maintained to recover a loan of money made to a child who was under the patria potest as. More...

In Roman law. This was the Senotus-consultum Mace-donianum, a decree of the Roman senate, first given under Claudius, and renewed under Vespasian, by which It was declared that no action should be maintained to recover a loan of money made to a child who was under the patria potest as. It was intended to strike at the practice of usurers in making loans, on unconscionable terms, to family heirs who would mortgage their future expectations from the paternal estate. The law is said to have derived its name from that of a notorious usurer. See Mackeld. Rom. Law* | 432; Inst 4, 7, 1; Dig. 14, 6. Less...
MACHECOLLARE
To make a warlike device over a gate or other passage like to a grate, through which scalding water or ponderous or offensive things may be cast npon the assailants. Co. Litt 5a.

To make a warlike device over a gate or other passage like to a grate, through which scalding water or ponderous or offensive things may be cast npon the assailants. Co. Litt 5a. Less...
MACHINATION
Contriving a plot or conspiracy. The act of planning or contriving a scheme for executing some purpose, particularly an evil purpose; an artful design formed with deliberation.

Contriving a plot or conspiracy. The act of planning or contriving a scheme for executing some purpose, particularly an evil purpose; an artful design formed with deliberation. Less...
MACHINE
In patent law. Any contrivance used to regulate or augment force or motion; more properly, a complex structure, consisting of a combination, or peculiar modification, of the mechanical powers. The term "machine" in patent law, includes every mechanical device, or combination of mechanical powers and devices, to perform some function More...

In patent law. Any contrivance used to regulate or augment force or motion; more properly, a complex structure, consisting of a combination, or peculiar modification, of the mechanical powers. The term "machine" in patent law, includes every mechanical device, or combination of mechanical powers and devices, to perform some function and produce a certain effect or result But where the result or effect is produced by chemical action, by the operation or application of some element or power of nature, or of one substance to another, such modes, methods, or operations are called "processes." A new process is usually the result of discovery; a machine, of invention. Corning v. Burden, 15 How. 252. 267, 14 L. Ed. 683. And see Pittsburgh Reduction Co. v. Cowles Electric Co. (O. C.) 55 Fed. 316; Westinghouse v. Boyden Power Brake Co.. 170 U. S. 537, 18 Sup. Ct 70Y, 42 L. Ed. 1136; Burr v. Duryee, 1 Wall. 570, 17 L. Ed. 650; Stearns v. Russell, 85 Fed. 225, 29 C. C. A. 121; Wintermute v. Redington, 30 Fed. Cas. 370. -Perfect machine. In patent law. A perfected invention; not a perfectly constructed] machine, but a machine so constructed as to embody all the essential elements of the invention, in a form that would make them practical and operative so as to accomplish the result but it is not necessary that it should accomplish that result in the most perfect manner, and be in a condition where it was not susceptible of a higher degree of perfection in its mere mechant ical construction. American Hide, etc., Co. v. American Tool, etc., Co., 4 Fish. Pat Cas. 299, 1 Fed. Cas. 647. Less...

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