Legal Term: DEGREE

Definition: descents. This word is derived from the French degre, which is itself taken from the Latin gradus, and signifies literally, a step in a stairway, or the round of a ladder. 2. Figuratively applied, and as it is understood in law, it is the distance between those who are allied by blood, it means the relations descending from a common ancestor, from generation to generation, as by so many steps. Hence, according to some Lexicographers, we obtain the word, pedigree (q. v.) Par degrez, by degree, the descent being reckoned par degrez. Minshew. Each generation lengthens the line of descent one degree, for the degrees are only the generations marked in a line by small circles or squares, in which the names of the persons forming it are written. Vide Consanguinity,, Line, and also Ayliffes Parergon, 209, Toull. Dr. Civ. Frau. liv. 3, t. 1, c. 3, n. 158, Aso & Man. Inst. B. 2, t. 4, c. 3, 1.

Return to the Legalnut.com Law Dictionary