suit.
Jurisdiction. The authority by which judicial officers
take cognizance of and decide causes.
Jurisprudence. The science of law.
Jurist. One versed in the science of law.
Jury. A body of men who are sworn to declare the facts
of a case as they are delivered from the evidence placed before
them.
Justification. In Pleading. The allegation of matter
of fact by the defendant, showing his legal right to do the
thing complained of by the plaintiff.
MEANING- OF LEGAL TERMS. 311
Key. An instrument made for shutting and opening a
lock. Keys of a house are real estate and go to the heir or
the purchaser. Delivering the keys of a warehouse to a' pur-
chaser of goods locked up there, with a view of so delivering
the goods, completes the delivery. Keys may be used as im-
plements of housebreaking.
Kindred. Relations by blood. All kindred are: 1. De-
scendants, as children; 2. Ascendants, as father, mother; 3.
Collaterals, as brother, uncle.
Laches. Negligence.
Landlord. Popularly, one who owns lands or tenements
which he rents out to others.
Larceny. The wrongful and fraudulent taking and car-
rying away by one person of the personal goods of another
from any place, with a felonious intent to convert them per-
manently to the taker's own use and make them his property
without the consent of the owner.
Grand Larceny and Petit Larceny are divisions of the
crime based entirely upon the value of the thing stolen, and the
division is fixed by Statute in the different States. In Ohio
the taking of anything of the value of thirty-five dollars or
more is grand larceny; under that petit larceny.
Law Merchant. The general body of commercial usages
in matters relating to commerce.
Lawful Money. Money which is a legal tender in the
payment of debts.
Leading Question. A question which suggests the an-
swer desired. Leading questions are not permitted in ex-
amination in chief.
Lease. A contract for the possession and profits of lands
and tenements, either for life or for a term of years, or during
the pleasure of the parties.
Legacy. A gift by last will.
312 THE LAW OF BUSINESS.
Legal Tender. That currency or money which has
been made suitable by law for the purposes of a tender or
offer in the payment of debts.
Legatee. A person to whom a legacy is given.
Legislature. The law making body of a State.
Legitimacy. The state of one born in lawful wedlock.
Letters of Marque and Reprisal. A commission
given by the government to a private individual to take the
property of a foreign State, or of the citizens or subjects of
such State, as a reparation for injury committed by that State
or its subjects.
Levy. To raise; the raising of the money for which an
execution has been issued.
Libel. In Torts. That which is written or printed, and
published, calculated to injure the character of another by
bringing him into ridicule, hatred or contempt.
Lien. A hold or claim which one person has upon the
property of another as the security of some debt or charge.
Limitations. Statutes prescribing the time within which
a party having a cause of action may appeal to the courts for
redress. See "Statutes of Limitations."
Liquidate. To pay; to settle.
Liquidated Damages. Damages whose amount has been
anticipated and agreed upon by the parties prior to the breach.
Litigation. A contest in a court of justice to enforce a
right.
Loan. A bailment of an article for use or consumption
without reward. The loan of money is an exception, being
usually for a reward. When an article is loaned for consumption
it must be returned in kind, as, a loaf of bread. The prop-
erty passes to the borrower. When the loan is for use the
identical article must be returned, as a gun loaned for hunt-
ing. The property remains in the lender.
MEANING OF LEGAL TERMS. 313
Loss. In Insurance. The destruction of the property in-
sured by the perils insured against, according to the provisions
of the contract. If a house is insured against fire and should
be blown to pieces by a tornado or swept away by a flood this
would not constitute a loss within the policy.
Magna Charta. The Great Charter of English liberties.
It was wrung from King John by his barons, assembled in
arms, on the 19th of June, 12 15. It was given by the King's
own hand on a little island in the river Thames, in the County
of Buckinghamshire. The island is called to this day Magna
Charta Island. Magna Charta has thirty-seven chapters. The
most celebrated is chapter 29, which confirms the right to
trial by jury.
Maintenance. Support; aid; assistance.
Majority. The condition of a person who has arrived at
full age. In voting. The greater number ; more than all the
opponents.
Malfaesance. The unjust performance of some act
which the party had no right to do, or had contracted not
to do.
Malice. In Criminal Law. Doing a wrongful act inten-
tionally, without cause or excuse.
Mandamus. A writ, issuing generally out of the highest
court of general jurisdiction in a State, requiring^ some person,
corporation or inferior court within its jurisdiction, to do some
particular thing specified, arid which pertains to their office or
duty.
Manslaughter. In Criminal Law. The unlawful kill-
ing of another without malice. Manslaughter differs from
murder in lacking the essential elements of malice and pre-
meditation. There being no premeditation, there can be no
accessories before the fact. Manslaughter may be voluntary,
as when the person intends to produce the injury, or involun-
314 THE LAW OF BUSINESS.
tary, as that which occurs without the intention to inflict the
injury but in the performance of an unlawful act. The differ-
ent grades of homicide are defined and their punishments
fixed by the statutes of the various States.
Maturity. The time when a note or bill becomes due.
Mayhem. In Criminal Law. The maiming of a person
by depriving him of any of his members which are necessary
for his defense or protection, as the cutting off of a man's
finger or hand, or striking out his eye.
Medical Jurisprudence. That science which applies
the principles of medicine and surgery to the settlement of
doubtful questions which arise in courts of law.
Mesne. Intermediate; the middle between two extremes.
Mesne Process. All writs necessary to a suit between
primary process or summons and final process or execution.
Minor. One not twenty-one years old.
Miscarriage. In Medical Jurisprudence. The expulsion
of the embryo from the uterus within the first six weeks after
conception. Between that time and the end of six months it
is called abortion, and if soon after the sixth month and before
full time it is called premature labor. These terms, miscar-
riage and abortion are commonly used without any reference
to these divisions of time and in criminal law the act of de-
stroying a foetus any time before birth is called procuring mis-
carriage.
Misdemeanor. Every offense inferior to felony, punish-
able by indictment or particular prescribed proceedings.
Misfeasance. The performance of a lawful act in an im-
proper manner, by which another person receives an injury.
Misprision. The concealment of a crime, as felony,
treason. It is the duty of every good citizen knowing of a
felony or treason having been committed to inform some
magistrate.
MEANING OF LEGAL TERMS. 315
Mistake. Some unintentional act, omission or error aris-
ing from ignorance, surprise, imposition, or misplaced confi-
dence. Story.
Mitigation. Reduction of the amount of a penalty or
punishment.
Moiety. The half of anything.
Monarchy. A government ruled either really or theo-
retically by one man, who is wholly set apart from all other
members of the State.
Money. The common medium of exchange in a civilized
nation. The Constitution of the United States says that " the
Congress shall have power to coin money ;" and again that
"no State shall coin money or make anything but gold and
silver a legal tender in payment of debt." While these con-
stitutional provisions seem to make the money of the country
synonymous with coin, s*till the Supreme Court of the United
States has decided that the notes issued by the government
were legal and they have become an important part of our
circulating medium.
Moral Obligation. A duty which a person owes and
ought to perform but which he is not legally bound to do.
Mortgage. The conveyance of an estate or property by
way of pledge for the security of debt, and to become void on
the payment of that debt. The mortgagor usually retains
possession if the thing pledged is real property.
Murder. In Criminal Law. The willful killing of any
person with malice aforethought. In nearly all the States
murder has been divided into degrees. A killing with malice
and premeditation, as by poisoning or lying in wait or when
the preparation for the act can be shown; or a killing com-
mitted in the attempt to perpetrate any arson, burglary, rape
or robbery, is called in most of the States murder in the first
degree. All other kinds of murder are considered murder in
316 THE LAW OF BUSINESS.
the second degree. Some States have third degree murder,
others manslaughter. The exact divisions of this crime in the
States can only be learned by reading their respective statutes.
Mutiny. Insurrection against constituted authority, par-
ticularly military or naval authority; concerted revolt against
the rules of discipline.
Nation. An independent body politic.
Naturalization. The act by which an alien becomes a
citizen of the United States.
Negotiable. In Mercantile Law. A contract which is
capable of being transferred by endorsement and delivery (if
made to A or order), or by delivery alone (if made to A or
bearer), the assignee in either case having the right to sue on
the contract in his own name.
Next of Kin. A term used to designate the relations of
a party who has died intestate.
Night. That space of time during which the sun is
below the horizon of the earth, except a short period called
commonly twilight, before rising and after setting, during
which a man's face may be discerned. This is important
sometimes in determining the crime of burglary, which can
only be committed in the night time. If the face can be re-
cognized by the fading sunlight it is not night and a breaking
and entering another's house at that time is not burglary but
housebreaking.
Nolle Prosequi. (Latin. To be unwilling to prose-
cute.) An entry made on the record by which the public
prosecutor declares that he will not proceed against a defend-
ant charged criminally, or a plaintiff, that he will not proceed
against the defendant in a civil action. A' prosecutor can
enter nolle pros, before the jury is impaneled or after convic-
tion without the consent of the defendant, but not after the
jury is impaneled.
MEANING OF LEGAL TERMS. 317
Nominal Damages. A trifling sum awarded to a plain-
tiff who has sued for damages and shown a breach of duty on
the part of defendant but no serious loss resulting therefrom.
Nonsuit. The name of a judgment given against a
plaintiff, 1, when he abandons his cause or absents himself
from court when called and allows judgment for cost to be
entered against him ; or 2, when he has given no evidence on
which a jury could find a verdict. A nonsuit is no bar to
another action for the same cause.
Not Proven. In Scotch Criminal Law. A verdict some-
times given by a Scotch jury when the evidence against a
prisoner was so strong that they did not dare acquit him and
yet not sufficient to convict. This verdict had the effect of
acquittal in that the defendant could not be tried again for the
same offense, yet the effect upon his reputation was far dif-
ferent, for it cast an indelible stigma upon his name.
It was as if the jury should say, "We believe him guilty
but can't prove it."
Nudum Pactum. (Latin. A naked contract.) A con-
tract without any consideration.
Nuisance. Anything that unlawfully worketh hurt, in-
convenience or damage.
Null. That which has no more effect than if it did not
exist.
Nullius Filius. A bastard; nobody's son.
Nuncupative Will. An oral will declared by testator
in extremis (in his last moments) before witnesses and after-
ward reduced to writing.
Oath. An outward pledge given by the person taking it
that his attestation or promise to tell the truth is made under
an immediate sense of his responsibility to God.
Office. A right to exercise a public function or employ-
ment and to take the fees or emoluments belonging to it.
318 THE LAW OF BUSINESS.
Onus Probandi. The burden of proof.
Ordinary Care. That degree of care which men of or-
dinary prudence exercise in taking care of their own property.
Oyez. The sheriff or other court officer opens court, and
public criers sometimes call attention to a proclamation by re-
peating this word three times. It means "hear ye," and is
usually wrongfully pronounced O yes.
Panel. A schedule or roll containing the names of jurors
summoned by virtue of a writ of venire facias.
Parliament. The legislative branch of the government
of Great Britain. It consists of the House of Lords and the
House of Commons. Membership in the House of Lords is
inherited. Membership in the Commons is by election by
the people. The sovereign has no right of veto, Queen Anne
being the last sovereign who exercised that prerogative.
Parol. (French word, speech.) A term applied to con-
tracts not under seal. Parol contracts may be written or
verbal, but if written have no seal.
Parol Evidence. Evidence delivered verbally by the
witness.
Parole. The agreement of persons captured in war that
they will not again take up arms against those who captured
them, either for a limited time or during the continuance of
the war.
Parricide. The unlawful killing of father or mother; the
murder of any one to whom reverence is due. Blackstone ap-
plies the word to one who kills his child.
Parties. To Contracts. Those persons who engage
themselves to do the things set forth in the agreement. To
Suits in Law or Equity. The plaintiff and defendant.
Partners. Members of a partnership.
Partnership. A voluntary contract between two or
more persons capable of contracting, for joining together their
MEANING OF LEGAL TERMS. 319
money, goods, labor and skill, or any of these, in some lawful
business, with an understanding that there shall be a division
of profits between them.
Patent. A grant by which the United States secures to
inventors for a limited time the exclusive use of their own in-
ventions.
Also, the title deed by which the government conveys its
lands.
Payment. The discharge in money of a sum due.
Penitentiary. A prison for the punishment of convicts.
Peril. An accident by which a thing is lost.
Perils of the Sea. A term used in bills of lading. It
refers to a class of dangers to goods carried which common
carriers do not undertake to insure against by virtue of their
general undertaking. The term seems to have been extended
in its application in the United States to include perils of the
river.
Perishable Goods. Goods whose value decreases by be-
ing kept.
Perjury. The willful giving, under oath, in a judicial
proceeding or court of justice, of false testimony material to
the point at issue.
Perquisites. Something derived from a position or of-
fice in addition to the regular salary or fee.
Personal Chattels. Things movable, which may be
annexed to or attendant upon the person of the owner and
carried about with him from one part of the world to another.
Personal Property. The right or interest less than a
freehold that a man has in realty, or any right or interest in
things movable*.
Petit Jury. (Pronounced petty.) A jury of twelve men
impaneled to try causes in a court of justice. Called petit in
distinction from the grand jury, which see.
320 THE LAW OF BUSINESS.
Petty Larceny. In Ohio, larceny of sum less than
thirty-five dollars. See Larceny.
Pettifogger. One who pretends to be a lawyer, but
possesses neither knowledge of law nor principle.
Pickpocket. A thief who steals from the pockets or per-
son of another without putting him in fear.
Piracy. A robbery or forcible depredation on the high
seas without lawful authority (as letters of marque) and done
in the spirit of universal hostility. In Torts. Plagiarizing or
stealing from a book, engraving or other work for which a
copyright has been taken out.
Pirate. A sea robber.
Plagiarism. The act of appropriating the ideas and
language of another and passing them for one's own Bouvier.
Plaintiff. The one who seeks a remedy at law for an
injury to his rights.
Plea. Equity. A special answer showing cause why the
suit should be dismissed or delayed or barred, In Law The
defendant's answer by matter of fact to the plaintiff's declara-
tion. This differs from demurrer, which is an answer by mat-
ter of law.
Pleading. -^-The stating in a legal form of the facts which
constitute the plaintiff's cause of action or the defendant's
ground for defense.
Plenipotentiary. Possessing full powers.
Poaching. Unlawful entering land in the night time,
armed, with intent to take or destroy game.
Poison. Any substance having an inherent injurious
property which renders it capable of destroying life when
taken into the system.
Polyandry. The condition of a woman who has several
husbands. Polyandry is legalized in Thibet only.
Polygamy. The state of a person who marries another
MEANING OF LEGAL TERMS. 321
with the knowledge that he already has two or more wives or
that she has two or more husbands.
Post Mortem. After death.
Posthumous Child. A child born after the death of its
father, or when the Caesarean operation is performed after the
death of the mother.
Power of Attorney. An instrument authorizing a per-
son to act as the agent or attorney of the person granting it.
Practice. The conducting of suits in the courts, through
their various stages, in the form and manner and according to
the principles of law and rules laid down by the respective
courts.
Precedents. Legal acts, instruments or decisions which
are deemed worthy to serve as rules or models for subsequent
cases.
Pre-Emption-Right. The right given to settlers upon
public lands of the United States to purchase them at the
lowest price in preference to all others.
Pregnancy. The state of a female who has within her
womb a fecundated germ which gradually develops. This
subject presents itself to the attorney usually in one of two
forms: i. where an attempt is made to conceal pregnancy; 2.
where an attempt is made to feign or pretend to be pregnant.
The first may be done to avoid disgrace and secretly to ac-
complish the destruction of the foetus. The second may be
attempted to gratify the wishes of a husband; to extort money
from a man; to avoid or delay the death punishment; or to de-
prive the legal heir of his just claims. (This last can only, of
course, be accomplished by carrying the imposition to a sup-
posed birth and having a new-born child furnished to order to
fill the requirement.) In legal cases involving these questions
the signs of pregnancy become very important. For the ben-
efit of those interested in either the legal or medical aspects
322 THE LAW OF BUSINESS.
of the subject a short treatise has been prepared, which will be
found in another part of this work.
Premeditation. A design formed to commit a crime or
do some other act before it is done.
Prima Facie. At first view or appearance. Prima facie
evidence of a fact will establish that fact in law unless re-
butted.
Privies. Persons who have an interest together in any
action or thing.
Process. The means of compelling a defendant to ap-
pear in court in both civil and criminal cases.
Promise of Marriage. A contract mutually entered
into between a man and a woman that they will marry each
other.
Promissory Note. A written promise to pay a certain
sum of money at a future fixed time unconditionally.
Property. The right and interest a man has in lands
and chattels to the exclusion of others.
Prosecutor. The one who prosecutes another for a
crime in the name of the State.
Prostitution. The common lewdness of women for hire.
Protest. A solemn declaration in writing by a notary
public, usually under seal, protesting that all parties liable for
loss or damage by the non-acceptance or non-payment of a
bill of exchange, or the non-payment of a note, will be held
responsible to the holder of such instrument.
Punishment. Some pain or penalty inflicted by war-
rant of law, and by judgment and command of some lawful
court on a person for the commission of a crime or misde-
meanor, or for failing to perform some act required by law.
Quack. An ignorant and unskillful practitioner of medi-
cine or surgery. To call a regular physician a quack is ac-
tionable.
MEANING OF LEGAL TERMS. 323
Quarentine. Forty days. Ships from foreign ports
thought to be infected with a contagious or malignant disease,
were originally held off the shore forty days and not per-
mitted to land or have any communication whatever. The
period is now shorter, or whatever the authorities choose to
make it. This restraint is termed quarantine. To break
quarantine without authority is a misdemeanor.
Quash. To overthrow or annul. Defective indictments
may be quashed; also irregular civil proceedings.
Quasi. As if; similar to; resembling, but slightly differ-
ent.
Quickening. The sensation a mother has of the move-
ment of the child in her womb.
Quit-Claim. A form of deed of the nature of a release.
Quo Warranto. A writ by which the government at-
tempts to recover an office or franchise from a person or cor-
poration holding it. The writ commands the defendant to
appear and show by what authority {quo warranto) he holds
the office.
Quorum. The number of members of a legislative or
any deliberative body required by its laws to transact business.
Rape. The carnal knowledge of a woman by a man forci-
bly and unlawfully against her will. Man in this definition
means a male of the human species of the age of fourteen and
upwards.
Rebellion. The act of taking up arms traitorously
against the government.
Receipt. A written acknowledgement of the payment of
money or the delivery of chattels.
Recognizance. An obligation of record, entered into
before a court or officer duly authorized for that purpose, with
a condition to do some act required by law which is therein
specified. Blackstone.
324 THE LAW OF BUSINESS.
In civil cases the condition of a recognizance is that the
party and his surety will pay the debt, interest and costs, re-
covered by the plaintiff under certain contingencies.
In criminal cases the condition is that the party shall ap-
pear before the court, at a specified time, to answer to such
charges as are or shall be made against him, or that he shall
keep the peace or be of good behavior.
Redress. Satisfaction for an injury sustained.
Release. The conveyance of a man's interest in a thing
to some other person who already has some interest therein or
possession thereof. The operative words are "remise, release
and forever quitclaim."
Remedy. The means employed to enforce a right or re-
dress an injury.
Rent. A certain profit issuing out of lands and tene-
ments in return for their use.
Replevin. An action to regain possession of chattels
which have been taken from the plaintiff unlawfully.
Reprieve. The temporary withdrawing of a sentence of
execution.
Reprisals. The taking by force by one nation of a thing
which belongs to another in return or satisfaction for an in-
jury committed.
Repudiate. To refuse a right when offered. A more
recent meaning is to refuse to pay; as the State has repudiated
its debt.
Reputation. The opinion generally entertained of a
person by those who know him.
Requisition. The demand made by the Governor of one
State on the Governor of another for a fugitive from justice.
See Extradition.
Rescue. Forcibly and knowingly freeing another from
arrest or imprisonment.
MEANING OF LEGAL TERMS. 325
Residue. That which is left.
Restitution. Restoring to the rightful owner what be-
longs to him.
Retaining Fee. A fee given to an attorney upon con-
sulting him, in order to secure his future services.
Revenue. The income of the government from taxation,
duties, etc.
Reward. An offer of recompense for the performance of
some act for the public good. A person may be a witness in a
criminal case although he expects to receive a reward upon
the conviction of the prisoner.