Legal Term: KISSING

Definition: Kissing the bible is a ceremony used in taking the corporal oath, the object being, as the canonists say, to denote the assent of the witness to the oath in the form it is imposed. The witness kisses either the whole bible, or some portion of it; or a cross in some countries. See the cerermony explained in Oughton s Ord. Tit. Consitt. on Courts, part 3, sect. 1, 3 Junkin on the Oath, 173, 180; 2 Evan s Pothier, 234.

Return to the Legalnut.com Law Dictionary