crim. law. When a man commits a great crime which includes a lesser, the latter is merged in the former.2. Murder, when committed by blows, necessaril...
rights. Rights are said to be merged when the same person who is bound to pay is also entitled to receive. This is more properly called a confusion of...
torts. Where a person in committing a felony also commits a tort against a private person; in this case, the wrong is sunk in the felony, at least, un...
This word is used principally in matters of defence.2. A defence upon the merits, is one that rests upon the justice of the cause, and not upon techni...
A statute so called, because the parliament or rather council, which enacted it, sat at Merton, in Surrey. It was made the 20 Hen. III. A. D. 1236. Se...
Used in our ancient books. An unbeliever. Vide Infidel....
An ancient word used to signify house, probably from the French maison; it is said that by this word the buildings, curtilage, orchards and gardens wi...
The middle between two extremes, that part between the commencement and the end, as it relates to time.2. Hence the profits wbich a man receives betwe...
Any process issued between original and final process; that is, between the original writ and the execution. See Process, mesne....
ment s. 2 W. C. C. R. 165. Vide, generally, Bac. Ab. Ejectment, H; Woodf. L. & T. ch. 14, s. 3; 2 Sell. Pr. 140; Fonbl. Eq. Index, h. t.; Com. L & T. ...
of. The name of an ancient writ, which lies when: the lord para- mount distrains on the tenant paravail; the latter shall have a writ of mesne against...
A person appointed to perform certain duties, generally of a ministerial character.2. In England, a messenger appointed under the bankrupt laws, is an...
property. This word is synonymous with dwelling-house; and a grant of a messuage with the appurtenances, will not only pass a house, but all the build...
This word is derived from the Greek, and signifies ameasure.2. This is the standard of French measure.3. The fundamental base of the metre is the quar...
A French term used in Louisiana, which signifies simply household furniture. 4 N. S. 664; 3 Harr. Cond. R. 431. ...
Eng. law. In Saxon times, the great council of the nation bore this name, sometimes also called the witena gemot, or assembly of wise men; in aftertim...
Eng. law. One of the four terms of the courts; it begins on the 2d day of November, and ends on the 25th of November. It was formerly a movable term. ...
riginal jurisdiction in all matters civil and criminal, not excepted in this constitution, and not probibited by law; and, appellate jurisdiction from...
om a ship by the seller, to a wharfinger, to be by him forwarded to the purchaser, who has been appointed by the latter to receive them; or if goods b...
measure. A length of a thousand paces, or seventeen hundred and sixty yards, or five thousand two hundred and eighty feet. It contains eight furlongs,...
A compensation allowed by law to officers, for their trouble and expenses in travelling on public business.2. The mileage allowed to members of congre...
That which belongs or relates to the army....
The military force of the nation, consisting of citizens called forth to execute the laws of the Union, suppress insurrection and repel invasion.2. Th...
n held that the grant of a mill; and its appurtenances, even without the land, carries the whole right of water enjoyed by the grantor, as necessary t...
money. An imaginary money, of which ten are equal to one cent, one hundred equal to a dime, and one thousand equal to a dollar. There is no coin of th...
This term means merely coined money, and it is not necessary that it should be marked or rolled on the edges. Running s case, Leach, 708....
The name of a coin. The mil-reis of Portugal is taken as money of account, at the custom-house, to be of the value of one hundred and twelve cents. Ac...
It is usual in considering the state of a testator at the time of making his will, to ascertain whether he was of sound mind and memory; that is, whet...
An excavation made for obtaining minerals from the bowels of the earth, and the minerals themselves are known by the name of mine.2. Mines are therefo...
government. An officer who is placed near the sovereign, and is invested with the administration of some one of the principal branches of the governme...
n a level with the envoy extraordinary. Vattel, liv. 4, c. 6,74; Kent, Com. 38; Merl. RĮpert. h. t. sect. 1, n. 4.4. Formerly no distinction was made ...
eccles. law. One ordained by some church to preach the gospel.2. Ministers are authorized in the United States, generally, to marry, and are liable to...
mediator. An officer appointed by the government of one nation, with the consent of two other nations, who have a matter in dispute, with a view by hi...
That which is done under the authority of a superior; opposed to judidial; as, the sheriff is a ministerial officer bound to obey the judicial command...
These which are also called instrumental trusts, demand no further exercise of reason or understanding, than every intelligent agent must necessarily ...
persons. One under the age of twenty-one years, while in a state of infancy; one who has not attained the age of a major. The terms major and minor, a...
The state or condition of a minor; infancy. In another sense, it signifies the lesser number of votes of a deliberative assembly; opposed to majority....
The place designated by law, where money is coined by authority of the government of the United States.2. The mint was established by the Act of April...
measures. In divisions of the circle or angular measures, a minute is equal to sixty seconds, or one sixtieth part of a degree.2. In the computation o...
practice. A memorandum of what takes place in court; made by authority of the court. From these minutes the record is afterwards made up. 2. Toullier ...
A book kept by the clerk or prothonotary of a court, in which minutes of its proceedings are entered. It has been decided that minutes are no part of ...
y of this celebrated book see St. Armand s Hist. Essays on the Legislative power of England, 68, 59. ...
A syllable which prefixed to some word signifies some fault or defect; as, misadventure, misprision, mistrial, and the like....
crim. law, torts. An accident by which an injury occurs to another.2. When applied to homicide, misadventure is the act of a man who, in the performan...
Improper or unlawful conduct. See 2 Mart. N. S. 683.2. A party guilty of misbehaviour; as, for example, to threaten to do injury to another, may be bo...
med. jurisp. By this word is technically understood the expulsion of the ovum or embryo from the uterus within the first six weeks after conception; b...
contracts, torts. By the English statute of frauds, 29, C. II., c. 3, s. 4, it is enacted that "no action shall be brought to charge the defendant upo...
By this term is not understood any pretended miscasting or mis- valuing, but simply an error in auditing and numbering. 4 Bouv. Inst. n. 4128....
This word, which is but little used, signifies ignorant or not knowing. Stat. 32 H. VIII. c. 9....
Unlawful behaviour by a person entrusted in any degree: with the administration of justice, by which the rights of the parties and the justice of the,...
Legal Dictionary 
