Legal Advice Banner

Legal Advice Mobile Banner

Connect one-on-one with a legal expert who will answer your question

Chat Now

Connect one-on-one with a legal expert who will answer your question

Chat Now

Ask a question, get an answer ASAP!

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.

Speak with a Lawyer 3

Speak with a Lawyer 4

Browse
A
B
C
D
E
F
G
H
I
J
K
L
M
N
O
P
Q
R
S
T
U
V
W
X
Y
Z

ABETTOR
In criminal law. An instigator, or setter on; one who promotes or procures a crime to be committed; one who commands, advises, instigates, or encourages another to commit a crime; a person who, being present or in the neighborhood, incites another to commit a crime, and thus becomes a principal. More...

In criminal law. An instigator, or setter on; one who promotes or procures a crime to be committed; one who commands, advises, instigates, or encourages another to commit a crime; a person who, being present or in the neighborhood, incites another to commit a crime, and thus becomes a principal. The distinction between abettors and accessaries is the presence or absence at the commission of the crime. Cowell; Fleta, lib. 1, c. 34. Presence and participation are necessary to constitute a person an abettor. Green v. State, 13 Mo. 382; State v. Teahan, 50 Conn. 92; Connaughty v. State, 1 Wis. 159, 60 Am. Dec. 370. Less...
ABEYANCE
In the law of estates. Expectation; waiting; suspense; remembrance and contemplation in law. Where there is no person in existence in whom an inheritance can vest, it is said to be in abeyance, that is, in expectation; the law considering it as always potentially existing, and ready to vest whenever More...

In the law of estates. Expectation; waiting; suspense; remembrance and contemplation in law. Where there is no person in existence in whom an inheritance can vest, it is said to be in abeyance, that is, in expectation; the law considering it as always potentially existing, and ready to vest whenever a proper owner appears. 2 Bl. Comm. 107. Or, in other words, it is said to be in the remembrance, consideration, and intendment of the law. Co. Litt. § 646, 650. The term "abeyance" is also sometimes applied to personal property. Thus, in the case of maritime captures during war, it is said that, until the capture becomes invested with the character of prize by a sentence of condemnation, the right of property is in abeyance, or in a state of legal sequestration. 1 Kent, Comm. 102. It has also been applied to the franchises of a corporation. "When a corporation is to be brought into existence by some future acts of the corporators, the franchises remain in abeyance, until such acts are done; and, when the corporation is brought into life, the franchises instantaneously attach to it." Story, J., in Dartmouth College v. Woodward, 4 Wheat 691, 4 L. Ed. 609. Less...
ABIATICUS, OR AVIATICUS
L. Lat In feudal law. A grandson; the son of a son. Spelman; Lib. Feud., Baraterii, tit 8, cited. Id.

L. Lat In feudal law. A grandson; the son of a son. Spelman; Lib. Feud., Baraterii, tit 8, cited. Id. Less...
ABIDE
To "abide the order of the court" means to perform, execute, or conform to such order. Jackson v. State, 30 Kan. 88, 1 Pac. 317; Hodge v. Hodgdon, 8 Cush. (Mass.) 294. See McGarry v. State, 37 Kan. & 14 Pac. 482. A stipulation in an arbitration bond that the More...

To "abide the order of the court" means to perform, execute, or conform to such order. Jackson v. State, 30 Kan. 88, 1 Pac. 317; Hodge v. Hodgdon, 8 Cush. (Mass.) 294. See McGarry v. State, 37 Kan. & 14 Pac. 482. A stipulation in an arbitration bond that the parties shall "abide by" the award of the arbitrators means only that they shall await the award of the arbitrators, without revoking the submission, and not that they shall acquiesce in the award when made. Marshall v. Reed, 48 N. H. 36; Shaw v. Hatch, 6 N. H. 162; Weeks v. Trask, 81 Me 127, 16 AO. 413, 2 L. It A. 532. Less...
ABIDING BY
In Scotch law. A judicial declaration that the party abides by the deed on which he founds, In an action where the deed or writing is attacked as forged. Unless this be done, a decree that the deed Is false will be pronounced. Pat Comp. It has the effect of More...

In Scotch law. A judicial declaration that the party abides by the deed on which he founds, In an action where the deed or writing is attacked as forged. Unless this be done, a decree that the deed Is false will be pronounced. Pat Comp. It has the effect of pledging the party to stand the consequences of founding on a forged deed. Bell. Less...
ABIGEATUS
Lat. In the civil law. The offense of stealing or driving away cattle. See ABIGEUS.

Lat. In the civil law. The offense of stealing or driving away cattle. See ABIGEUS. Less...
ABIGERE
Lat. In the civil law. To drive away. Applied to those who drove away animals with the intention of stealing them. Applied, also, to the similar offense of cattle stealing on the borders between England and Scotland. See ABIGEUS. To drive out; to expel by force; to produce abortion. Dig. More...

Lat. In the civil law. To drive away. Applied to those who drove away animals with the intention of stealing them. Applied, also, to the similar offense of cattle stealing on the borders between England and Scotland. See ABIGEUS. To drive out; to expel by force; to produce abortion. Dig. 47, 11, 4. Less...
ABIGEUS
Lat. (Pl., abigei, or more rarely abigeatores.) In the civil law. A stealer of cattle; one who drove or drew away (subtraxit) cattle from their pastures, as horses or oxen from the herds, and made booty of them, and who followed this as a business or trade. The term was More...

Lat. (Pl., abigei, or more rarely abigeatores.) In the civil law. A stealer of cattle; one who drove or drew away (subtraxit) cattle from their pastures, as horses or oxen from the herds, and made booty of them, and who followed this as a business or trade. The term was applied also to those who drove away the smaller animals, as swine, sheep, and goats. In the latter case, it depended on the number taken, whether the offender was fur (a common thief) or abigeus. But the taking of a single horse or ox seems to have constituted the crime of abigeatus. And those who frequently did this were clearly abigei, though they took but an animal or two at a time. Dig. 47, 14, 3, 2. See Cod. 9, 37; Nov. 22, c 15, § 1; 4 Bl. Comm. 239. Less...
ABILITY
When a statute makes it a ground of divorce that the husband has neglected to provide for his wife the common necessaries of life, having the ability to provide the same, the word "ability" has reference to the possession by the husband of the means in property to provide such More...

When a statute makes it a ground of divorce that the husband has neglected to provide for his wife the common necessaries of life, having the ability to provide the same, the word "ability" has reference to the possession by the husband of the means in property to provide such necessaries, not to his capacity of acquiring such means by labor. Washburn v. Washburn, 9 Cal. 475. But compare State v. Witham, 70 Wis. 473, 35 N. W. 934. Less...
ABISHERING, OR ABISHERSING
Quit of amercements. It originally signified a forfeiture or amercement and is more properly mishering, mishersing, or miskering, according to Spelman. It has since been termed a liberty of freedom, because, wherever this word is used in a grant, the persons to whom the grant is made have the forfeitures More...

Quit of amercements. It originally signified a forfeiture or amercement and is more properly mishering, mishersing, or miskering, according to Spelman. It has since been termed a liberty of freedom, because, wherever this word is used in a grant, the persons to whom the grant is made have the forfeitures and amercements of all others, and are themselves free from the control of any within their fee. Termes de la Ley, 7. Less...

Showing 90 of 14636

Legal Dictionary

Legal Resources

Top Legal Categories

Accident Law

Accident Law

Accident Law Basics, Motorcycle Accident Law, Car Accidents, Construction Accidents, Slip and Fall Accidents, Wrongful Death and

more

Bankruptcy Law

Bankruptcy Law

Bankruptcy Law Basics, Consumer Bankruptcy, Business Bankruptcy, Debt & Collections, Credit Problems and

more

Business Law

Business Law

Business Law Basics, Starting A Business, Types of Businesses, Naming A Business and

more

Child Custody Law

Child Custody

Child Custody Law Basics, Child Custody Procedure, Child Visitation, Father’s Rights, Modifying A Child Order and

more

Child Support Law

Child Support

Child Support Basics, Child Support Calculation, Failure to Pay Child Support, Modifying Child Support, and

more

Criminal Law

Criminal Law

Criminal Law Basics, Arrests and Searches, Drug Charges, Drunk Driving, Marijuana Laws, Juvenile Laws and

more

Divorce Law

Divorce

Divorce Law Basics, Types of Divorce, Property Distribution and

more

Drunk Driving Law

Drunk Driving

Drunk Driving Law Basics, DUI Checkpoints, DUI Testing, DUI Defenses and

more

Employment Labor Law

Employment Labor Law

Employment/ Labor Law Basics, Hiring & Firing, Wage & Hour, Job Discrimination, Sexual Harassment, Workers Compensation and

more

Estate Planning Law

Estate Planning

Estate Planning Basics, Elder Law, Living Wills, Probate, Trusts, Wills, and

more

Family Law

Family Law

Family Law Basics, Adoption, Divorce Law, Child Custody, Child Support, Spousal Support, Marriage and

more

Immigration Law

Immigration Law

Immigration Law Basics, Asylum, Citizenship, Green Cards, Permanent Residents, Visas and

more

Injury Law

Injury Law

Personal Injury Law Basics, Defective Products, Dangerous Drugs, Property Damage and

more

Landlord Tenant

Landlord Tenant

Real Estate Law Basics, Commercial Real Estate, Foreclosure, Landlord Tenants, Mortgages, Residential Real Estate, Zoning and

more

Real Estate Law

Real Estate Law

Real Estate Law Basics, Commercial Real Estate, Foreclosure, Landlord Tenants, Mortgages, Residential Real Estate, Zoning and

more

Social Security Law

Social Security Law

Social Security Law Basics, Applying for Benefits, Eligibility and

more

Traffic Law

Traffic Law

Traffic Law Basics, License Suspension, Traffic Court, Traffic Violations and

more