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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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WAY
A passage, path, road, or street In a technical sense, a right of passage over land. A right of way is the privilege which an individual, or a particular description of persons, as the inhabitants of a village, or the owners or occupiers of certain farms, have of going over More...

A passage, path, road, or street In a technical sense, a right of passage over land. A right of way is the privilege which an individual, or a particular description of persons, as the inhabitants of a village, or the owners or occupiers of certain farms, have of going over another's ground. It is an in-corporeal hereditament of a real nature, en-tirely different from a public highway. Cruise, Dig. tit 24, | 1.The term "way" is derived from the Saxon, and means a right of use for passengers. It may be private or public. By the term "right of way" is generally meant a private way, which is an incorporeal hereditament of that class of easements in which a particular person, or particular description of persons, have an interest and a right though another person is the owner of the fee of the land in which it is claimed. Wild v. Deig, 43 Ind. 455, 13 Am. Rep. 399.—Private way. A right which a person has of passing over the land of another. Jones v. Venable, 120 Ga. 1, 47 S. E. 549; Whiting v. Dudley, 19 Wend. (N. Y.) 376; Kister v. Rees-er, 98 Pa. 1, 42 Am. Rep. 608; Kripp v. Curtis, 71 Cal. 62, 11 Pac 879. In another (chiefly in New England) a private way is one laid out by the local public authorities for the accommodation of individuals. and wholly or chiefly at their expense, but not restricted to their exclusive use, being subject, like highways, to the public easement of passage. See Metcalf v. Bingham, 3 N. H. 459; Clark v. Boston, C. A M. R. Co., 24 N. H. 118; Denham v. Bristol County, 108 Mass. 202; Butchers1, etc., Ass'n v. Boston, 139 Mass. 290, 30 N. E 94.—Right of way. See that title. Less...
WAYLEAVE
is a right of way over or through land for the carriage of minerals from a mine or quarry. It is an easement, being a species of the class called "rights of way," and is generally created by express grant or reservation. Sweet

is a right of way over or through land for the carriage of minerals from a mine or quarry. It is an easement, being a species of the class called "rights of way," and is generally created by express grant or reservation. Sweet Less...
WAYNAGIUM
Implements of husbandry. 1 Reeve, Eng. Law, c. 5, p. 268.

Implements of husbandry. 1 Reeve, Eng. Law, c. 5, p. 268. Less...
WAYS AND MEANS
In a legislative body, the "committee on ways and means" is a committee appointed to inquire into and consider the methods and sources for raising revenue, and to propose means for providing the funds needed by the government.

In a legislative body, the "committee on ways and means" is a committee appointed to inquire into and consider the methods and sources for raising revenue, and to propose means for providing the funds needed by the government. Less...
WAYWARDENS
The English highway acts provide that in every parish forming part of a highway district there shall annually be elected one or more waywardens. The waywardens so elected, and the justices for the county residing within the district form the highway board for the district. Each waywarden also represents his More...

The English highway acts provide that in every parish forming part of a highway district there shall annually be elected one or more waywardens. The waywardens so elected, and the justices for the county residing within the district form the highway board for the district. Each waywarden also represents his parish in regard to the levying of the highway rates, and in questions arising concerning the liability of his parish to repairs, etc. Sweet Less...
WEALD
Sax. A wood; the woody part of a country.

Sax. A wood; the woody part of a country. Less...
WEALREAF
In old English law. The robbing of a dead man in his grave.

In old English law. The robbing of a dead man in his grave. Less...
WEALTH
All material objects, capable of satisfying human wants, desires, or tastes, having a value in exchange, and upon which human labor has been expended; i. e. which have, by such labor, been either reclaimed from nature, extracted or gathered from the earth or sea, manufactured from raw materials, improved, adapted, More...

All material objects, capable of satisfying human wants, desires, or tastes, having a value in exchange, and upon which human labor has been expended; i. e. which have, by such labor, been either reclaimed from nature, extracted or gathered from the earth or sea, manufactured from raw materials, improved, adapted, or cultivated. The aggregate of all the things, whether material or Immaterial, which contribute to comfort and enjoyment which cannot be ob-tained without more or less labor, and which are objects of frequent barter and sale, is what we usually call 'wealth.'" Bowen, PoL Econ. See Branham v. State, 96 Ga. 307, 22 S. E. 957. Less...
WEAPON
An Instrument used in fighting;, an instrument of offensive or defensive combat The term is chiefly used, in law, in the statutes prohibiting the carrying of "concealed" or "deadly" weapons. See those titles.

An Instrument used in fighting;, an instrument of offensive or defensive combat The term is chiefly used, in law, in the statutes prohibiting the carrying of "concealed" or "deadly" weapons. See those titles. Less...
WEAR, OR WEIR
A great dam or fence made across a river, or against water, formed of stakes interlaced by twigs of osier, and accommodated for the taking of fish, or to convey a stream to a mill. Cowell; Jacob.

A great dam or fence made across a river, or against water, formed of stakes interlaced by twigs of osier, and accommodated for the taking of fish, or to convey a stream to a mill. Cowell; Jacob. Less...

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