Legal Term Dictionary

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  • VALVASORS, OR VIDAMES
    An obsolete title of dignity next to a peer. 2 Inst. 667; 2 Steph. Comm. 612. Vana est ilia potentia quss nunqnam venit in aotnm. That power is vain [idle or useless] which never comes into action, [which is never exercised.] 2 Coke, 51. Vani timores sunt asstimandl, qui non More...
  • VANTARIUS
    L. Lat. In old records. A fore-footman. Spelman; Cowell.
  • VARA
    A Spanish-American measure of length, equal to 33 English inches or a trifle more or less, varying according to local usage. See U. S. v. Perot, 98 U. S. 428, 25 L. •Ed 251.
  • VARDA
    In old Scotch law. Ward; custody; guardianship. Answering to "warda," in old English law. Spelman.
  • VARENNA
    In old Scotch law. A warren. Answering to "warenna," in old English law. Spelman.
  • VARIANCE
    In pleading and practice. A discrepancy or disagreement between two instruments or two steps in the same cause, which ought by law to be entirely consonant. Thus, if the evidence adduced by the plaintiff does not agree with the allegations of his declaration, it is a variance; and so if More...
  • VARRANTIZATIO
    In old Scotch law. Warranty.
  • VAS
    Lat. In the civil law. A pledge ; a surety; bail or surety in a criminal proceeding or civil action. Calvin.
  • VASECTOMY
    The operation of castration as performed by section (cutting) of the vas deferens or spermatic cord; sometimes proposed as an inhibitory punishment for rapists and other criminals.
  • VASSAL
    In feudal law. A feudal tenant or grantee; a feudatory; the holder of a fief on a feudal tenure, and by the obliga¬tion of performing feudal services. Tbe correlative term was "lord."
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