shoplift

en-verb

shoplift (third-person singular simple present shoplifts, present participle shoplifting, simple past and past participle shoplifted)

shoplifts (present singular third-person)
shoplifting (participle present)
shoplifted (participle past)
shoplifted (past)

She taught Maddy to sing in Portuguese, to shoplift mascara, to play a drinking game called Spoons

2004 May 17, Andrew Sean Greer, The New Yorker:

(transitive) To steal something from a shop or store during business hours, usually by means of hiding merchandise.


shield

From Middle English scheld, shelde, from Old English scield (“shield”), from Proto-West Germanic *skeldu, from Proto-Germanic *skelduz (“shield”), from Proto-Indo-European *(s)kelH- (“cut, split”). Cognate with West Frisian skyld, Dutch schild (“shield”), German Schild (“shield”), Danish skjold (“shield”), Icelandic skjöldur (“shield”) and Faroese skjøldur (“shield”).
Compare Latin scūtum (“shield”), Irish sciath (“shield”), Latgalian škīda (“shield”), Lithuanian skydas (“shield”), Russian щит (ščit, “shield”), from Proto-Indo-European *(s)kewH- (“to cover, protect”), *skey- (“to cut, split”).

noncog

The chief put something in his hand and Bosch looked down to see the gold detective's shield.

2005, Michael Connelly, The closers: a novel:

A shape like that of a shield; usually, an inverted triangle with sides that curve inward to form a pointed bottom, commonly used for police identifications and company logos.

(colloquial, law enforcement) A police badge.


joint

The noun is from Middle English joynt (attested since the late 13th century), from Old French joint (“joint of the body”) (attested since the 12th century). The adjective (attested since the 15th century) is from Old French jointiz. Both Old French words are from Latin iūnctus, the past participle of iungō. See also join, jugular.
The meaning of "building, establishment", especially in connection with shady activities, appeared in Anglo-Irish by 1821 and entered general American English slang by 1877, especially in the sense of "opium den". The sense "marijuana cigarette" is attested since 1935. The development to meaning "any thing" also happened to the Scots and Memphian form junt and the Mid-Atlantic/Philadelphian form jawn.

verbinding

point of a rigid joint, means of joining in carpentry

I'm just trying to stay out of the joint.

en:place of business or human activity
en:prison, jail, or lockup

(chiefly US slang, may be somewhat derogatory) A place of business, particularly in the food service or hospitality industries; sometimes extended to any place that is a focus of human connection or activity (e.g., schools, hangouts, party spots).

(slang, with the definite article) Prison, jail, or lockup.


surrogate

→ Dutch: surrogaat

From Latin surrogātus, perfect passive participle of surrogō (“ask”); a variant of subrogō, from sub (“under”) + rogō (“ask”).

(US law) A judicial officer of limited jurisdiction, who administers matters of probate and intestate succession and, in some cases, adoptions.


repeat

en-verb

repeat (third-person singular simple present repeats, present participle repeating, simple past and past participle repeated)

repeats (present singular third-person)
repeating (participle present)
repeated (participle past)
repeated (past)

From Middle English repeten, from Old French repeter, from Latin repetō, repetere, from the prefix re- (“again”) + peto (“attack, beseech”).

(law, Scotland) To repay or refund (an excess received).


property rights

(law) The exclusive rights pertaining to the ownership and possession of a given piece of property.


wreck

From Middle English wrek, from Anglo-Norman wrek, from Old Norse *wrek (Norwegian and Icelandic rek, Swedish vrak, Danish vrag), from Proto-Germanic *wrekaną, whence also Old English wrecan (English wreak), Old High German rehhan, Old Saxon wrekan, Gothic 𐍅𐍂𐌹𐌺𐌰𐌽 (wrikan).

2. ... Wreck includes the cargo, stores and tackle of a vessel and all parts of a vessel separated from the vessel, and the property of persons who belong to, are on board or have quitted a vessel that is wrecked, stranded or in distress at any place in Canada.

1985, “Criminal Code (R.S.C., 1985, c. C-46)”, in Justice Canada, retrieved 2021-09-09:

(law, not countable) Goods, etc. cast ashore by the sea after a shipwreck.


disgorge

disgorge (third-person singular simple present disgorges, present participle disgorging, simple past and past participle disgorged)

disgorges (present singular third-person)
disgorging (participle present)
disgorged (participle past)
disgorged (past)

(law) To surrender (stolen goods or money, for example) unwillingly.


privy

From Middle English pryvy, prive, from Old French privé (“private”), from Latin prīvātus (“deprived”), perfect passive participle of prīvō (“I bereave, deprive; I free, release”). Doublet of private.

(law) A partaker; one having an interest in an action, contract, etc. to which he is not himself a party.


claim

→ Afrikaans: kleim

→ Dutch: claimen

→ Indonesian: klaim

From Middle English claimen, borrowed from Old French clamer (“to call, name, send for”), from Latin clāmō, clāmāre (“to call, cry out”), from Proto-Italic *klāmāō, from Proto-Indo-European *kelh₁- (“to shout”), which is imitative.
See also Lithuanian kalba (“language”), Old English hlōwan (“to low, make a noise like a cow”), Old High German halan (“to call”), Ancient Greek καλέω (kaléō, “to call, convoke”), κλέδον (klédon, “report, fame”), κέλαδος (kélados, “noise”), Middle Irish cailech (“cock”), Latin calō (“to call out, announce solemnly”), Sanskrit उषःकल (uṣaḥkala, “cock”, literally “dawn-calling”). Cognate with Spanish llamar and clamar.

onomatopoeic

imitative

cog

extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence

(law) A legal demand for compensation or damages.


claim

en-verb

claim (third-person singular simple present claims, present participle claiming, simple past and past participle claimed)

claims (present singular third-person)
claiming (participle present)
claimed (participle past)
claimed (past)

onomatopoeic

imitative

(law) To demand compensation or damages through the courts.


collusion

en-noun

collusion (countable and uncountable, plural collusions)

Dated from the 14th century C.E. as Middle English collusioun, collusion; from Old French collusion, from Latin collusio (“act of colluding”).

Such tunges unhappy hath made great diviſion
In realmes, in cities, by ſuche fals abuſion;
Of fals fickil tunges ſuche cloked colluſion

c. 1515–1516, published 1568, John Skelton, Againſt venemous tongues enpoyſoned with ſclaunder and falſe detractions &c.

Hath brought nobil princes to extreme confuſion.

The dispatches […] also exposed the blatant discrepancy between the west's professed values and actual foreign policies. Having lectured the Arab world about democracy for years, its collusion in suppressing freedom was undeniable as protesters were met by weaponry and tear gas made in the west, employed by a military trained by westerners.

2013 June 7, Gary Younge, “Hypocrisy lies at heart of Manning prosecution”, in The Guardian Weekly, volume 188, number 26, page 18:

So why is Japan going ahead with the Olympics, against the public’s objections, while the pandemic is still a major public health concern? The answer is familiar: collusion among the elites.

2021 March 25, Koichi Nakano, “The Olympics Are On! But Why?”, in The New York Times, →ISSN:

Once derided as a nationalist conspiracy theory, collusion is by now an undeniable fact. The scale, however, remains unknown.

2023 August 30, Megan K. Stack, Rob Stothard, “He Was Shot 14 Times at the Dinner Table. His Children Want to Know if Britain Ordered the Hit.”, in The New York Times, →ISSN:

A private agreement for a fraudulent or illegal purpose; conspiracy.


excuse

excuse (countable and uncountable, plural excuses)

From Middle English excusen (verb) and excuse (noun), borrowed from Old French escuser (verb) and excuse (noun), from Latin excūsō, excūsāre (“to excuse, allege in excuse, literally, free from a charge”), from ex (“out”) + causa (“a charge”); see cause, accuse and recuse. Displaced native Old English lād (“an excuse”) and lādian (“to excuse”).

der

(law) A defense to a criminal or civil charge wherein the accused party admits to doing acts for which legal consequences would normally be appropriate, but asserts that special circumstances relieve that party of culpability for having done those acts.


twoccer

The police caught the twoccer breaking into the car.

Not all modes of reading (and not all readers) can be described in its terms, but just as those who joyride in twocced cars often know and care more about their chosen vehicles than do the owners, so it is the more astute and committed fans of reading who are most likely to be twoccers.

1994 Winter, John Hartley, “Twoccing and joyreading”, in Terence Hawkes, editor, Textual Practice, volume 8, number 3, page 2:

Joyriding was prominent in the media in the 1980s. Twoccers joined muggers in the panoply of folk devils. Newspapers vied with each other to report the youngest, the most daring and despicable, and the most prolific young offenders.

2024, Barry Godfrey, Alexandra Godfrey, “Hoodies”, in The Criminal Classes: Who Does Society Fear and Why?, Pen and Sword, →ISBN, page 165:

(British) A person who engages in twoccing; a car thief.


rozzer

Late 19th century UK. Etymology unknown. Possibly a play on the given name of Sir Robert Peel, founder of the Metropolitan Police Service. Compare peeler, bobby.

unk

Etymology unknown

"Another wrong un," says the carman. "Hi, Mr. Graham!"—and up walks a rozzer and buckles me tight.

If the rozzers was to see him in bona clobber they'd take him for a gun.

1893, P. H. Emerson, Signor Lippo, Burnt-Cork Artiste:

‘I was never frightened of any job yet,’ he said, ‘and I'd do this job to-night if the house was full of rozzers,’ Hill pretended that he wasn't particular whether the thing came off or not that night, but all the while he kept egging Fred on to do it.

1916, Arthur J. Rees, John R. Watson, The Hampstead Mystery:

Jed Mercurio’s corrupt cop hit remains one of the best shows on TV, but surely every rozzer in the Midlands knows who Kate Fleming is by now?

2017 March 25, Errigo Angie, “Dodgy detectives, Twitter trolls and whistleblowers: Line of Duty is back”, in The Guardian, TV & Radio blog:

(UK, Ireland, slang, dated) A police officer.


suss law

(British, law) A former (1824–1981) law by which police officers were permitted to arrest anyone under suspicion of having committed a crime


TWOC

en-noun

TWOC (countable and uncountable, plural TWOCs)

From section 12 of the United Kingdom's Theft Act 1968, which states 'a person shall be guilty of an offence if, without having the consent of the owner or other lawful authority, he takes any conveyance for his own or another’s use or, knowing that any conveyance has been taken without such authority, drives it or allows himself to be carried in or on it'.

[…] women making arrests for aggravated burglary represent 22 per cent of the total and for aggravated TWOCs, 23 per cent […]

2002, Louise Westmarland, Gender and Policing, Routledge, →ISBN:

[…] the reported victimisation rate for TWOC and attempted TWOC (six out of 28 available vehicles victimised, and […])

2010, Anthony Bottoms, Julian Roberts, Hearing the Victim: Adversarial Justice, Crime Victims and the State, Routledge, →ISBN, page 121:

(British, law enforcement) The crime of taking a car without the consent of the owner.

未獲授權而取用運輸工具

the crime of taking without the consent of the owner

未获授权而取用运输工具

mei6 wok6 sau6 kyun4 ji4 ceoi2 jung6 wan6 syu1 gung1 geoi6


practice

practice (usually uncountable, plural practices)

The noun is from Middle English practice, practique, practyse, from the verb; also compare Medieval Latin prāctica.
The verb is from Middle English practice, practise, practize, practyse, from Middle French pratiser, practiser, alteration of practiquer, from Medieval Latin prācticāre, from Late Latin prācticus, from Ancient Greek πρακτικός (praktikós).
The spelling practice is attested once in Middle English for both the noun and the verb. The noun began to be assimilated in spelling to nouns in -ice; practise (noun) is now obsolete.

what a tangled web we weave when first we practice to deceive

This firm of solicitors is involved in family law practice.

(law) The form, manner, and order of conducting and carrying on suits and prosecutions through their various stages, according to the principles of law and the rules laid down by the courts.


inferior

en-adj

inferior (comparative more inferior, superlative most inferior)

more inferior (comparative)
most inferior (superlative)

Borrowed from Latin īnferior (“lower in situation or place”), comparative of īnferus (“below, underneath”).

bor

(law) (of a court or tribunal) Susceptible to having its decisions overturned by a higher court.


panel

From Middle English panel (“piece of cloth, saddle pad, pane of glass, piece of ice, part, division, jury list, jury members”), from Anglo-Norman panel, panelle (“piece of cloth, saddle cushion”), from Vulgar Latin *pannellus, diminutive of Latin pannus (“cloth, rag, garment”), from Proto-Indo-European *peh₂n- (“fabric”). Cognate with Old English fana (“a piece of cloth, patch, banner, flag, vane”). Doublet of vane.

cog

To this end the sheriff returns his compulsive process , the writ of habeas corpora, or distringas , with the panel of jurors annexed, to the judge's officer in court.

1765–1769, William Blackstone, Commentaries on the Laws of England, (please specify |book=I to IV), Oxford, Oxfordshire: […] Clarendon Press, →OCLC:

(law) A document containing the names of persons summoned as jurors by the sheriff.

[I]t remains only to examine the Relevancy of the two general exculpatory Defences pled for the Pannells.

1737, “Information for His Majesty’s Advocate, and Mr. Hugh Forbes, Advocate, Procurator Fiscal of the High Court of Admiralty, against Thomas McAdam, and James Long, Pannels”, in Extract of the Proceedings before James Graham of Airth, Esq; Judge of the High Court of Admiralty in Scotland, in the Action at the Instance of Duncan Forbes, Esq; His Majesty’s Advocate, and Mr. Hugh Forbes, Advocate, Procurator Fiscal of the Said High Court, against Thomas McAdams Souldier, and James Long Corporal, in the Regiment of Foot Commanded by Colonel —— Hamilton. Laid before the House Pursuant to Their Lordship’s Order April 18, 1737, London: Printed by John Baskett, […], →OCLC, page 12:

(Scots law) A prisoner arraigned for trial at the bar of a criminal court.


guardian

→ Japanese: ガーディアン (gādian)

/ˈɡɑː.dɪ.ən/

From Middle English gardein, garden, (also wardein, > Modern English warden), from Old French guardein, from the verb guarder, of Germanic origin. Compare French gardien. Doublet of warden. By surface analysis, guard + -ian.

(law) A person legally responsible for a minor (in loco parentis).

وَلِي أَمْر

law: person legally responsible for a minor in loco parentis

(law) A person legally responsible for an incompetent person.

попечи́тел

law: person responsible for incompetent person


solution

en-noun

solution (countable and uncountable, plural solutions)

From Middle English solucioun, from Old French solucion (French solution), from Latin solūtiōnem, accusative singular of solūtiō, from the verb solvō. Compare solve, -tion.

he was not obliged to repeat what he had received, in solution of a just debt

1681, Scotland. Court of Session, edited by Lord Alexander Fraser Tytler Woodhouselee and William Maxwell Morison, The decisions of the Court of Session, published 1802, page 2927:

A disposition granted on a cessio bonorum is merely in farther security to the creditors, not in satisfaction or in solution of the debts.

1827, John Erskine, The Principles of the Law of Scotland, page 508:

It is said that there is no violation of the law of this State in the simple act of paying money in solution of a promise to do so

1879, “Conflict of Law — Promissory notes governed by law of place where made and payable”, in Albany Law Journal, volume 20:

(law, UK, archaic, rare) Satisfaction of a claim or debt.


obligation

obligation (countable and uncountable, plural obligations)

right

antonym(s) of “requirement, duty, contract or promise”

From Middle English obligacioun, from Old French obligacion, from Latin obligatio, obligationem, from obligatum (past participle of obligare), from ob- (“to”) + ligare (“to bind”), from Proto-Indo-European *leyǵ- (“to bind”).

The Pupil after his Pupillarity, had granted a Diſcharge to one of the Co-tutors, which did extinguiſh the whole Debt of that Co-tutor, and conſequently of all the reſt, they being all correi debendi, lyable by one individual Obligation, which cannot be Diſcharged as to one, and ſtand as to all the reſt.

December 19 1668, James Dalrymple, “Mr.Alexander Seaton contra Menzies”, in The Deciſions of the Lords of Council & Seſſion, Edinburgh, published 1683, page 575:

(law) A legal agreement stipulating a specified action or forbearance by a party to the agreement; the document containing such agreement.


concord

concord (countable and uncountable, plural concords)

From French concorde, Latin concordia, from concors (“of the same mind, agreeing”); con- + cor, cordis (“heart”). See heart, and compare accord.

The concord or agreement may be made of an estate and fee-simple, fee-tail, or life or for years; it may be also of divers remainders, and that to them that are no parties but strangers to the fine; it may be also single or double, with a render back again of some estate of the same land or some rent out of it; so a concord may have in it reservation of rent, a clause of distress or nomine poenae and a warranty.

1792, Edward Wood, John Joseph Powell, A Complete Body of Conveyancing: In Theory and Practice, page 548:

And in all these, and such like cases, as before, where the concord is not formal, the judges ought not to receive the fine nor suffer it to pass; but if they do, and the fine be finished, it cannot afterwards be avoided by writ of error, or otherwise, for these faults.

1808, William Sheppard, The Touchstone of Common Assurances:

This concord was the foundation or substance of the fine; being, in form and in fact, the grant or conveyance intended to be given, and was acknowledged either openly in court, or before one of the judges, or before two or more commissioners empowered by a special authority. With this acknowledgment, all the essential parts of the fine were completed.

1850, Alexander Mansfield Burrill, A New Law Dictionary and Glossary, page 492:

The foot of a fine was a copy of an agreement ( the final concord ) reached in a court of law, usually the Court of Common Pleas, following a dispute over land ownership.

1994, The Local Historian - Volumes 24-25, page 66:

(law, obsolete) An agreement between the parties to a fine of land in reference to the manner in which it should pass, being an acknowledgment that the land in question belonged to the complainant. See fine.


principal

principal (countable and uncountable, plural principals)

From Middle English principal, from Old French principal, from Latin prīncipālis.

Principal (education)
Principal value
principal

When an attorney represents a client, the client is the principal who permits the attorney, the client′s agent, to act on the client′s behalf.

My principal sells metal shims.

The firm admitted the amount owed, but averred as an affirmative defense that it had hired the expert as an agent of a disclosed principal, the client.

1958, American Law Institute., Restatement of the Law, Second: Agency 2d, volume 7, page 533:

A food broker has been defined as an independent sales agent who performs the services of negotiating the sale of food and/or grocery products for and on account of the seller as principal.

1966, Pan American Union, The Marketing Structure for Selected Processed Food Products: In Sweden, Denmark, Norway, The Federal Republic of Germany, Canada and the United Kingdom, page 34:

2009, California Continuing Education of the Bar, California Probate Code, page 375,
An attorney-in-fact has a duty to act solely in yhe interest of the principal and to avoid conflicts of interest.

(law) A legal person that authorizes another (the agent) to act on their behalf; or on whose behalf an agent or gestor in a negotiorum gestio acts.

مُوَكِّل

legal: one on behalf of whom an agent or gestor acts

повјѐритељ m (more often means creditor, повѐрилац, повјѐрилац)

povjèritelj m (more often means creditor, povèrilac, povjèrilac)

client

one under whose direction and on whose behalf an agent acts

Coordinate term: accessory

The accessories may be prosecuted, tried and punished, though the principal has not been prosecuted or has been acquitted.

1915, Eugene Allen Gilmore, Wiliam Charles Wermuth, Modern American Law, page 125:

(law) The primary participant in a crime.

Haupttäter m or simply Täter

which is according to the Criminal Code’s wording, where the hypernym to accomplices, abettors and principals is Beteiligter


prior

The adjective is a learned borrowing from Latin prior (“earlier, former, previous, prior; in front; (figurative) better, superior”), from Proto-Italic *priōs (“earlier, previous”, literally “more before”), ultimately from *pri (“before”) (from Proto-Indo-European *pró (“leading to, toward”) and its etymon *per- (“before, in front; first”)) + *-jōs (suffix forming comparative adjectives). Doublet of before, fore, and former.
The adverb and noun are derived from the adjective.

der

априорное распределение вероятностей

And a little later we get the routine report on his prints from Washington, and he's got a prior back in Indiana, attempted hold-up six years ago.

1939, Raymond Chandler, The Big Sleep, New York, N.Y.: Alfred A[braham] Knopf, published 1966, →OCLC, page 47:

(Canada, US, law enforcement, chiefly in the plural) A previous arrest or criminal conviction on someone's criminal record.

досие

previous arrest or criminal conviction on someone’s criminal record


reverse

en-verb

reverse (third-person singular simple present reverses, present participle reversing, simple past and past participle reversed)

reverses (present singular third-person)
reversing (participle present)
reversed (participle past)
reversed (past)

unreverse

antonym(s) of “to turn something in the opposite direction”

From Middle English reversen, from Anglo-Norman reverser, Middle French reverser, and their source, Latin reversō, from re- + versō.

реверсирам

to cause a mechanism or vehicle to operate or move in the opposite directions

tolat

rail transport, of points: to move from the normal position to the reverse position

to reverse a judgment, sentence, or decree

From March 30, LNER was running around 40% of its trains and had suspended its Aberdeen, Inverness and Hull services, although it reversed the latter decision after Hull Trains suspended operations.

2020 April 8, “Network News: Emergency timetables and the number of services cut”, in Rail, page 15:

(law) To revoke a law, or to change a decision into its opposite.


crave

From Middle English craven, from Old English crafian (“to crave, ask, implore, demand, summon”), from Proto-West Germanic *krafōn, from Proto-Germanic *krafjaną (“to demand”). Cognate with Danish kræve (“to demand, require”), Swedish kräva (“to crave, demand”), Icelandic krefja (“to demand”), Norwegian kreve (“to demand”).

inh

(Scots law) A formal application to a court to make a particular order.


contract

From Middle English, from Old French contract, from Latin contractum, past participle of contrahere (“to bring together, to bring about, to conclude a bargain”), from con- (“with, together”) + trahere (“to draw, to pull”).

(law) An agreement which the law will enforce in some way. A legally binding contract must contain at least one promise, i.e., a commitment or offer, by an offeror to and accepted by an offeree to do something in the future. A contract is thus executory rather than executed.

(law) The document containing such an agreement.

(law) A part of legal studies dealing with laws and jurisdiction related to contracts.


satisfy

en-verb

satisfy (third-person singular simple present satisfies, present participle satisfying, simple past and past participle satisfied)

satisfies (present singular third-person)
satisfying (participle present)
satisfied (participle past)
satisfied (past)

From Middle English satisfyen, satisfien, from Old French satisfiier, satisfier (also Old French satisfaire), from Latin satisfacere, present active infinitive of satisfaciō, from satis (“enough, sufficient”) + faciō (“I make, I do”).

to satisfy a claim or an execution

(law, transitive) To answer or discharge (a claim, debt, legal demand, etc.); to give compensation for.


debtor

From Middle English dettour, from Old French detour, from Latin debitor, equivalent to debt + -or. Doublet of debitor. Displaced native Old English *sċola.

(law) One who owes another anything, or is under obligation, arising from express agreement, implication of law, or principles of natural justice, to pay money or to fulfill some other obligation; in bankruptcy or similar proceedings, the person who is the subject of the proceeding.


demand

demand (third-person singular simple present demands, present participle demanding, simple past and past participle demanded)

demands (present singular third-person)
demanding (participle present)
demanded (participle past)
demanded (past)
demand (infinitive)

Etymology tree
Proto-Italic *dē
Latin dē
Latin dē-
Proto-Indo-European *(s)meh₂-der.
Proto-Italic *manus
Latin manus
Proto-Indo-European *dʰeh₁-
Latin -dō
Latin mandō
Latin dēmandō
Old French demanderbor.
Middle English demaunden
English demand
From late Middle English demaunden, from Old French demander, from Latin dēmandō, dēmandāre.


receive

en-verb

receive (third-person singular simple present receives, present participle receiving, simple past and past participle received)

receives (present singular third-person)
receiving (participle present)
received (participle past)
received (past)

From Middle English receiven, from Old French receivre, from Latin recipere (“take back, accept, etc.”), from re- (“back”) + capiō (“to take”); see capacious. Compare conceive, deceive, perceive. Displaced native Middle English terms in -fon/-fangen (e.g. afon, anfon, afangen, underfangen, etc. "to receive" from Old English -fōn), native Middle English thiggen (“to receive”) (from Old English þiċġan), and non-native Middle English aquilen, enquilen (“to receive”) (from Old French aquillir, encueillir).

der

(law) To take goods knowing them to be stolen.


attach

en-verb

attach (third-person singular simple present attaches, present participle attaching, simple past and past participle attached)

attaches (present singular third-person)
attaching (participle present)
attached (participle past)
attached (past)

From Middle English attachen, from Old French atachier, variant of estachier (“bind”), derived from estache (“stick”), from Frankish *stakkā, *stakō (“stick”), from Proto-Germanic *stakô (“pole, bar, stick, stake”). Doublet of attack. More at stake, stack.

der

would lose one's head if it wasn't attached

Eftsoones the Gard, which on his state did wait, / Attacht that faitor false, and bound him strait […]

1590, Edmund Spenser, “Book I, Canto XII”, in The Faerie Queene. […], London: […] [John Wolfe] for William Ponsonbie, →OCLC:

Old lord, I cannot blame thee, / Who am myself attach'd with weariness / To th' dulling of my spirits: sit down, and rest.

1610–1611 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tempest”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act III, scene ii]:

The earl marshal attached Gloucester for high treason.

1868, Charlotte Mary Yonge, Cameos from English History:


wild

en-verb

wild (third-person singular simple present wilds, present participle wilding, simple past and past participle wilded)

wilds (present singular third-person)
wilding (participle present)
wilded (participle past)
wilded (past)

From Middle English wild, wilde, from Old English wilde, from Proto-West Germanic *wilþī, from Proto-Germanic *wilþijaz, from Proto-Indo-European *h₂welh₁- (“hair, wool, grass, ear (of corn), forest”).
Cognates
Cognate with West Frisian wyld, Dutch wild, German wild, Danish vild, Swedish vild, Norwegian vill, Icelandic villtur.

der

...Chief of Detectives Robert Colangelo, who said the attacks appeared unrelated to money, race, drugs, or alcohol, said that some of the 20 youths brought in for questioning has told investigators that the crime spree was the product of a pastime called "wilding".
"It's not a term that we in the police had heard before," the chief said, noting that the police were unaware of any similar incident in the park recently. "They just said, 'We were going wilding.' In my mind at this point, it implies that they were going to raise hell."...

1989 April 22, David E. Pitt, “Jogger's Attackers Terrorized at Least 9 in 2 Hours”, in New York Times, page 1:

Now is they wildin with us / And getting rowdy with us.

1999, Busta Rhymes (Trevor Taheim Smith, Jr.), Iz They Wildin Wit Us? (song)

(intransitive, slang) To commit random acts of assault, robbery, and rape in an urban setting, especially as a gang.


estop

en-verb

estop (third-person singular simple present estops, present participle estopping, simple past and past participle estopped)

estops (present singular third-person)
estopping (participle present)
estopped (participle past)
estopped (past)

Uncertain. Traditionally derived from the rare Late Middle English estoppen (“to prevent conception”), from Anglo-Norman and Old French estoper, from a Late Latin stuppō. However, the modern senses appear rather to align more with the much commoner Middle English istoppen (“to block, obstruct, stop up, clog”), from Middle English i- (perfective prefix) + stoppen (“to block, stop”). More at stop.

inh

[…] we twitted them, while we were together in the sun of the Continent, about English heating habits. Having done that, we are now estopped from bringing the matter up.

1957 November 23, William F. Buckley Jr., National Review:

2020: "Nancy Pelosi Should Take All the Time She Needs to Submit Articles of Impeachment" by Philip Bobbitt, Slate.com
Finally, new evidence—emails surrounding the decision to withhold appropriated military assistance from Ukraine—has come out since the vote. Is anyone suggesting that the House managers be estopped from presenting this evidence?


convert

en-verb

convert (third-person singular simple present converts, present participle converting, simple past and past participle converted)

converts (present singular third-person)
converting (participle present)
converted (participle past)
converted (past)

[kʰə̥ɱˈvɜːt]

From Old French convertir, from Latin converto (“turn around”).

The grand jury claims Terrigno "knowingly converted, for the benefit of herself and others, federal funds, which were intended to help the poor and homeless in the Los Angeles area."

1985 December 14, Gordon Gottlieb, “L.A. Community Divided over Terrigno Indictment”, in Gay Community News, volume 13, number 22, page 10:

(transitive, law) To appropriate wrongfully or unlawfully; to commit the common law tort of conversion.


cite

cite (third-person singular simple present cites, present participle citing, simple past and past participle cited)

cites (present singular third-person)
citing (participle present)
cited (participle past)
cited (past)

From Old French citer, from Latin citare (“to cause to move, excite, summon”), frequentative of ciēre (“to rouse, excite, call”).

der

According to the tribe’s chairman, rangers cited five of the demonstrators, who had traveled to Nevada from New York, Washington, California and the European country of Malta. The chairman did not say what they were cited for.

2023 August 29, “Tribal ranger draws weapon on climate activists blocking road to Burning Man; conduct under review”, in AP News:

(transitive, law) To summon officially or authoritatively to appear in court.


escrow

en-noun

escrow (countable and uncountable, plural escrows)

From Middle English escrowe, ascrowe (“escrow”), from Old French escroe, escroue (“scroll, strip of parchment”), which has given écrou, from Frankish *skrōda (“a shred”). Doublet of scroll and shred.

GCN staffers wrote and called our landlords, complaining about the building's disrepair, for months before informing them, in September, 1985, that we would pay our rent into an escrow account until repairs were made.

1987 May 9, “Setting the Record Strai..., um, Out in the Open”, in Gay Community News, page 4:

The court will decide which party is the rightful owner of the items in escrow.

2006, Kathryn J Haupt, Principles of California Real Estate, page 305:

“Well, Dominic,” Della suddenly chimed in. “Seeing as this place of yours is still under escrow, seems to me it's not really yours yet, is it?”

2012, Madison Lake, Jade Lake, Salon Antics, page 22:

(law) A contractual arrangement whereby money or assets are held in trust by an independent agent by the agreement of the parties, which can only be released to the relevant party once certain contractual conditions have been fulfilled.


dibble

dibble (countable and uncountable, plural dibbles)

Hanna-Barbera
New York Police Department
Top Cat

From the character of Officer Charlie Dibble, a New York Police Department officer, in the Hanna-Barbera cartoon series Top Cat (first broadcast in the US in 1961, and in the UK in 1962 under the title Boss Cat).

Remember this story about police hunting a metal detector enthusiast suspected of digging 20 holes in a school playing field in Cornwall? It’s taken a rather unusual twist. Pop superstar Robbie Williams appears to have ’fessed up to the crime. The former Take That star, who is a keen metal detecting enthusiast, retweeted the West Briton newspaper’s version of the story, telling ‘Dibble’ – a Mancunian slang term for the police which comes from the character Officer Dibble in the cartoon Top Cat – to ‘do one’, vowing the police will never catch him alive.

2016 May 12, “maxc73”, “Robbie Williams ‘confesses’ to digging holes in school’s playing field”, in The Herald, Plymouth, Devon, archived from the original on 2017-03-16:

(slang, British, originally Manchester, countable) A police officer, especially one serving with Greater Manchester Police.


fief

fief (countable and uncountable, plural fiefs)

From Middle French fief, from Old French fief, from Medieval Latin fevum, a variant of feudum (whence also Old French fieu, fied), from Old Frankish *fehu (“cattle, livestock”), from Proto-Germanic *fehu (“cattle, sheep”), from Proto-Indo-European *peku-, *peḱu- (“sheep”). Doublet of fee and feud.

Fief in the Encyclopædia Britannica (11th edition, 1911)

Fief: m[asculine] A Fief. A (Knights) fee, a Mannor, or inheritance held by homage, and fealty; and given at the firſt, in truſt, and upon promiſe of aſſiſtance, or ſervice in the wars: […] Alſo, a Tenure, or Eſtate in fief, or in fee. This word was firſt heard of, after the conqueſt of Gallia by the Francs (or ancient French-men) when their Soveraign Princes, reſerving ſome land for their own Domains, diſtributed the reſt (by whole Countreys, or large territories) among their Captains, and principal followers, on condition, that they ſhould hold of them, and aid them in their wars […]

1673, Randle Cotgrave, “Fief”, in A French and English Dictionary, London: Anthony Dolle, →OCLC:

And be it further ordained and enacted by the Authority aforesaid, That the Right and Title of the said Ecclesiastics of the Seminary of Saint Sulpice of Montreal, in and to all and singular the said Fiefs and Seigniories of the Island of Montreal, of the Lake of the Two Mountains, and of Saint Sulpice, and their several Dependencies, and in and to all Seigniorial and Feudal Rights, Privileges, Dues, and Duties arising out of and from the same, and in and to all and every the Domains, Lands, Reservations, Buildings, Messuages, Tenements, and Hereditaments within the said several Fiefs and Seigniories now held and possessed by them as Proprietors thereof, […] shall be and they are hereby confirmed and declared good, valid, and effectual in the Law; […]

1840 June 8, C[harles] Poulett Thomson, “An Ordinance to incorporate the Ecclesiastics of the Seminary of Saint Sulpice of Montreal [No. 164 of 1840]”, in Copy of Ordinances Passed by the Governor and Special Council of Lower Canada, in the Third and Fourth Years of the Reign of Her Majesty Queen Victoria (Accounts and Papers. United Kingdom. Parliament. House of Commons; 1841, session 1), volume XV, published 3 February 1841, →OCLC, pages 151–152:

The chief obligation of a sipahi was to take up residence on his fief and to be prepared at all times to rally, armed for battle, to his banner-holder's flag on the sultan's order. According to the income of his fief, every sipahi had to raise a fixed number of armed horsemen (cebeli), who followed him on campaigns.

1992, Franz [Carl Heinrich] Babinger, translated by Ralph Manheim, edited by William C. Hickman, Mehmed the Conqueror and His Time (Bollingen Series; XCVI), Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University Press, →ISBN, page 446:

By the 14th century, however, fief holding was in decline, as salaries and retainer fees, rather than fiefs, became standard for aristocrats in binding their knights to them, and as kings increasingly exercised royal power directly or through judges and bureaucrats, not through dukes and counts. Fief holding, which is what "feudalism" must be considered to mean if the term has any precise meaning at all—and what the term meant when it was coined in the 17th century—had become an insignificant part of social and governmental relations by the end of the Middle Ages.

1995, Constance B. Bouchard, edited by William W. Kibler et al., Medieval France: An Encyclopedia (Garland Reference Library of the Humanities; 932), New York, N.Y., London: Garland Publishing, →ISBN, page 660:

Where a vassal kills the brother, son, or grandson of his lord, he should lose his fief on account of it.

2001, “Law IX. For What Offenses Committed Against His Lord a Vassal Loses His Fief, and Also How the Lord Loses the Ownership of It if He Commits an Offense Against His Vassal.”, in Samuel Parsons Scott, transl., edited by Robert I[gnatius] Burns, Las Siete Partidas: Volume 4: Family, Commerce, and the Sea: The Worlds of Women and Merchants (The Middle Ages Series), volumes IV (Partidas IV and V), Philadelphia, Pa.: University of Pennsylvania Press, →ISBN, page 1001:

Investiture was the conferring of a fief by the lord to the vassal, and the rite consisted in the handing over by the lord of some symbolic object intended to represent the act of concession.

2010, Gerard J. Brault, “The Death of Roland—Laisses 174–176 (verses 2355–2396)”, in The Song of Roland: An Analytical Edition. Volume I. Introduction and Commentary, University Park, Pa., London: The Pennsylvania State University Press, →ISBN, page 256:

(law, historical) Land held of a superior, particularly on condition of homage, fealty, and personal service, especially military service.


team

→ Armenian: թիմ (tʻim)

→ Bengali: টীম (ṭim)

→ Cantonese: team

→ Catalan: tim

→ Czech: tým

→ Dutch: team

→ Indonesian: tim

→ Esperanto: team

→ Finnish: tiimi

→ German: Team

→ Hausa: tim

→ Hindi: टीम (ṭīm)

→ Italian: team

→ Japanese: チーム (chīmu)

→ Korean: 팀 (tim)

→ Macedonian: тим (tim)

→ Maori: tīma

→ Marathi: टीम (ṭīm)

→ Northern Kurdish: tîm

→ Norwegian Bokmål: team

→ Norwegian Nynorsk: team

→ Pashto: ټيم (ṭim)

→ Persian: تیم (tim)

→ Polish: team

→ Portuguese: time (Brazilian)

→ Romanian: team

→ Serbo-Croatian:

Cyrillic script: тим

Latin script: tim

→ Slovak: tím

→ Swahili: timu

→ Swedish: team

→ Tagalog: tim

→ Thai: ทีม (tiim)

→ Tok Pisin: tim

→ Urdu: ٹِیم (ṭīm)

→ Welsh: tîm

→ West Frisian: team

From Middle English tem, teem, teme, from Old English tēam (“child-bearing, offspring, brood, set of draught animals”), from Proto-West Germanic *taum, from Proto-Germanic *taumaz (“that which draws or pulls”), from Proto-Germanic *taugijaną, *tugōną, *teuhōną, *teuhaną (“to lead, bring, pull, draw”), from Proto-Indo-European *dewk- (“to pull, lead”). Cognate with Scots team, teem (“a chain, harness”), Saterland Frisian Toom (“bridle; breeding”), West Frisian team (“bridle, team”), Dutch toom (“bridle, reins, flock of birds”), German Low German Toom (“bridle”), German Zaum (“bridle”), Norwegian tømme (“bridle, rein”), Swedish töm (“leash, rein”). More at teem, tie, tow.

cog

TEAM, Theam, Tem, Them. Sax. [from tyman, to propagate, to teem.] In old English law. Literally, an offspring, race or generation. A royalty or privilege granted by royal charter to a lord of a manor, of having, keeping and judging in his court, his bondmen, neifes and villeins, and their offspring or suit. They who had a jurisdiction of this kind, were said to have a court of Theme... constantly used in the old books in connection with toll, in the expression Toll & Team.

1871, Alexander M. Burrill, Law Dictioary & Glossary, volume II:

(UK, law, obsolete) A royalty or privilege granted by royal charter to a lord of a manor, of having, keeping, and judging in his court, his bondmen, neifes, and villains, and their offspring, or suit, that is, goods and chattels, and appurtenances thereto.


master

Sranan Tongo: masra

→ Catalan: màster

→ Finnish: master

→ French: master

→ German: Master

→ Polish: master

→ Portuguese: máster

→ Spanish: máster

→ Turkish: master

From Middle English maister, mayster, meister (noun) and maistren (verb), from Old English mǣster, mæġster, mæġester, mæġister, magister (“master”), from Latin magister (“chief, teacher, leader”), from Old Latin magester, from Proto-Indo-European *méǵh₂s, (as in magnus (“great”)) + -ester/-ister (compare minister (“servant”)). Reinforced by Old French maistre, mestre (noun) and maistriier, maister (verb) from the same Latin source. Compare also Saterland Frisian Mäster (“master”), West Frisian master (“master”), Dutch meester (“master”), German Meister (“master”). Doublet of maestro, magister, and meister.

doublet

Southern US, African-American Vernacular, obsolete

use the master's tools to dismantle the master's house

The case was tried by a master, who concluded that the plaintiffs were the equitable owners of the property.[…]

(law) A parajudicial officer (such as a referee, an auditor, an examiner, or an assessor) specially appointed to help a court with its proceedings.


dole

From Middle English doell (“grief”), from Old French doel (compare French deuil), from Late Latin dolus, from Latin doleo.


bolo

(US law enforcement) A request for law enforcement officers to be on the lookout for a suspect.


return

en-noun

return (countable and uncountable, plural returns)

From Middle English returnen, retornen, from Anglo-Norman returner, from Old French retourner, retorner, from Medieval Latin retornare (“to turn back”), from re- + tornare (“to turn”). Compare beturn.

der

Hand in your return within 90 days of the end of the tax year.

(taxation, finance) A report of income submitted to a government for purposes of specifying exact tax payment amounts; a tax return.


mulct

From Middle French mulcter (“to fine, punish”), from Latin multa (“penalty, fine”). Possibly a doublet of milk.

uder

juries cast up what a wife is worth, / By laying whate'er sum in mulct they please on / The lover, who must pay a handsome price, / Because it is a marketable vice.

1819 July 15, [Lord Byron], Don Juan, London: […] Thomas Davison, […], →OCLC, canto I, stanza LXIV:

[…]by the Salic law, no higher mulct was imposed for killing, than for kidnapping a slave.

1838, William H[ickling] Prescott, History of the Reign of Ferdinand and Isabella, the Catholic. […], volume I, Boston, Mass.: American Stationers’ Company; John B. Russell, →OCLC, 1st part (1406–1492), page xxxvi:

The Act of Uniformity had laid a mulct of a hundred pounds on every person who, not having received episcopal ordination, should presume to administer the Eucharist.

1851, Thomas Babington Macaulay, chapter XI, in The History of England from the Accession of James the Second, volume III, London: Longman, Brown, Green, and Longmans, →OCLC:

(law) A fine or penalty, especially a pecuniary one.


superior

/sʉːˈpɪə.ɹiː.ə/

From Middle English, borrowed from Old French superiour, from Latin superior (“higher, upper”).

(Scots law, historical) One who has made an original grant of heritable property to a tenant or vassal, on condition of a certain annual payment (feu duty) or of the performance of certain services.


realty

en-noun

realty (countable and uncountable, plural realties)

From Middle French realité (“property, possession”). Doublet of reality.

der

(law) The property that goes to the heirs of the deceased, as distinguished from the personalty, which goes to the executor or administrator of the estate.


pilfer

en-verb

pilfer (third-person singular simple present pilfers, present participle pilfering, simple past and past participle pilfered)

pilfers (present singular third-person)
pilfering (participle present)
pilfered (participle past)
pilfered (past)

From Middle English pilfre (“booty”), from Old French pelfre (“plunder, booty, spoils”), of unknown origin. Compare pelf.

der

(transitive, intransitive) To steal in small quantities, or articles of small value; to practise petty theft.


ouster

From Old French ouster, oustre, a nominalization of Anglo-Norman oustre (“to oust”).

(property law) Action by a cotenant that prevents another cotenant from enjoying the use of jointly owned property.


redact

en-verb

redact (third-person singular simple present redacts, present participle redacting, simple past and past participle redacted)

redacts (present singular third-person)
redacting (participle present)
redacted (participle past)
redacted (past)

From Old French redacter, from Latin redactus, perfect passive participle of redigō (“drive, lead, collect, reduce”), from re- (“back”) + agō (“put in motion, drive”).

(law) To black out legally protected sections of text in a document provided to opposing counsel, typically as part of the discovery process.


jigger

A slang term of unknown origin, originally meaning prison. Oxford English Dictionary suggests that its origin might be the same as Etymology 1, above.

According to a disciplinary notice, a correctional officer saw a "jigger string" coming from cell H-2 to Harper's cell. A jigger string is used to move objects between cells.

1990, “Supreme Court of Iowa”, in Court Listener, Harper v. State, 463 N.W.2d 418 (Iowa 1990):


quod

en-noun

quod (countable and uncountable, plural quods)

Abbreviation of quadrangle; originally (17th century) referring to the quadrangles of Newgate Prison, London.

c. 1894, Acquaintance of Norman Lindsay, quoted in 2005, James Cockington, Banned: Tales From the Bizarre History of Australian Obscenity, Australian Broadcasting Corporation, paperback →ISBN, page 7,
I don′t suppose you'll get more than a couple of months′ quod for them.

(uncountable, Australia, slang) Confinement in a prison.


termer

(law) One who has an estate for a term of years or for life.


levy

en-verb

levy (third-person singular simple present levies, present participle levying, simple past and past participle levied)

levies (present singular third-person)
levying (participle present)
levied (participle past)
levied (past)

From Anglo-Norman leve, from Old French levee, from lever (“to raise”).

The new levying or inhancing of Weares Mills

1619, Michael Dalton, The Countrey Justice:

(law) To erect, build, or set up; to make or construct; to raise or cast up.


situs

Borrowed from Latin situs (“position, site”). Doublet of site and sitio.

(law) The location of a property as used for taxation or other legal purposes.


lien

Borrowed from Middle French lien, from Latin ligāmen (“a bond”), from ligō (“tie, bind”).

[…] every youth movement presents itself as loan to the future, and tries to call in its lien in advance, but when there is no future all loans are canceled.

1989, Greil Marcus, Lipstick Traces, Faber & Faber, published 2009:

Bodin deemed the king of France's power as absolute in the sense that the ruler was ‘absolved’ by divine sanction from legally binding liens and restrictions.

2002, Colin Jones, The Great Nation, Penguin, published 2003, page 7:

(law) A right to take possession of a debtor’s property as security until a debt or duty is discharged.

retensiereg

right to take and hold debtor’s property


punter

He had stolen 'trannies' (transistor radios) and hub caps from cars outside the main hotels in Glasgow, turning the collection into money through dealing with a 'punter' at Charing Cross.

2013, James Patrick, A Glasgow Gang Observed:

(Scotland) A person who trades with a gang but is not a gang member.


recuse

recuse (third-person singular simple present recuses, present participle recusing, simple past and past participle recused)

recuses (present singular third-person)
recusing (participle present)
recused (participle past)
recused (past)
recuse (infinitive)

From Late Middle English recusen, from Old French recuser (modern French récuser (“to challenge; to impugn; (formal) to make an objection; (law) to recuse”), and from its etymon Latin recūsāre, the present active infinitive of recūsō (“to decline, refuse, reject; (law) to object to, protest”), from re- (prefix meaning ‘again’, denoting opposition or reversal) + causa (“cause, reason; (law) case, claim; etc.”) + -ō (suffix forming regular first-conjugation verbs). Doublet of rouse and possibly ruse.
cognates
* Catalan recusar
* French récuser
* Italian ricusare
* Old Occitan recuzar
* Portuguese recusar
* Spanish recusar

recusar

to reject or repudiate (an authority, a person, a court judgment, etc.)

recuseren

(transitive, reflexive) of a judge, juror, or prosecutor: to declare (oneself) unable to participate in a court case due to an actual or potential conflict of interest or lack of impartality

jääviytyä

(intransitive) of a judge, juror, or prosecutor: to declare oneself disqualified from trying a court case due to an actual or potential conflict of interest or lack of impartiality

The judge recused herself from that case, citing a possible conflict of interest as one of the parties was a personal friend.

The revelation is almost certain to prompt calls for [Samuel] Alito, a member of the court’s conservative wing, to recuse himself from several high-profile cases pending before the court this year involving the election and subsequent attack on the US Capitol, including the blockbuster question of whether Trump may claim immunity from federal election subversion charges.

2024 May 17, John Fritze, “New York Times: Upside-down US flag flew at home of Justice Samuel Alito after 2020 election”, in CNN:

To reject or repudiate (an authority, a person, a court judgment, etc.).

(reflexive, law) Of a judge, juror, or prosecutor: to declare (oneself) unable to participate in a court case due to an actual or potential conflict of interest or lack of impartiality.

conflict of interest
conflict of interest

The ſaid [Nicholas] Fiott, likevviſe, recuſeth James Pipon, eſq; [as being a judge in the cause] ſeeing, that he knovvs that the ſaid Fiott is the perſon vvho is the cauſe that the ſaid Pipon hath been ſued by rigour of lavv, before the council, in order to oblige him to do juſtice to the poor concerning the hoſpital.

1771, [John Shebbeare], An Authentic Narrative of the Oppressions of the Islanders of Jersey. […], volume II, London: […] S. Hooper, […], →OCLC, pages 238–239:

(chiefly Canada, US, law) To object to (a judge, juror, or prosecutor) participating in a court case due to an actual or potential conflict of interest or lack of impartiality.

vastustaa jääviyden nojalla

to object to (a judge, juror, or prosecutor) participating in a court case due to an actual or potential conflict of interest or lack of impartiality

The district attorney recused from the case because he used to work for the company which was the defendant.

(intransitive, law) Of a judge, juror, or prosecutor: to declare oneself disqualified from trying a court case due to an actual or potential conflict of interest or lack of impartiality.


mew

From Middle English mewe, mue, mwe, from Anglo-Norman mue, muwe, and Middle French mue (“shedding feathers; cage for moulting birds; prison”), from muer (“to moult”).

der

(obsolete) A prison, or other place of confinement.


waiver

From Anglo-Norman weyver, from waiver. Date: 1628.

I had to sign a waiver when I went skydiving, agreeing not to sue even if something went wrong.

(law) A legal document removing some requirement, such as waiving a right (giving it up) or a waiver of liability (agreeing to hold someone blameless).


bribery

The making of illegal payment, or bribes, to persons in official positions as a means of influencing their decisions.

omkopery

making of illegal payment to persons in official positions as a means of influencing their decisions

(law) The activity of giving, offering or accepting bribes.


superiority

en-noun

superiority (countable and uncountable, plural superiorities)

From Middle English superiorite, from Old French superiorite, from Medieval Latin superioritas, from Latin superior.
Morphologically superior + -ity.

(Scots law, historical) The right which the superior enjoys in the land held by the vassal.


swag

swag (countable and uncountable, plural swags)

The swag, is a term used in speaking of any booty you have lately obtained, be it of what kind it may, except money; as where did you lumber the swag? that is, where did you deposit the stolen property? To carry the swag is to be the bearer of the stolen goods to a place of safety.

1819, James Hardy Vaux, Memoirs of James Hardy Vaux, volume 1, page 216:

“It′s all arranged about bringing off the swag, is it?” asked the Jew. Sikes nodded.

1838, Boz [pseudonym; Charles Dickens], “Chapter 19”, in Oliver Twist; or, The Parish Boy’s Progress. […], volume (please specify |volume=I, II, or III), London: Richard Bentley, […], →OCLC:

‘I understand that the district was considered a sort of sanctuary,’ the Chief was saying. ‘[…] They tell me there was a recognized swag market down here.’

1963, Margery Allingham, “Foreword”, in The China Governess: A Mystery, London: Chatto & Windus, →OCLC:

He was on his way to call on other dealers to check out their swag and to see if he could trade away some of his leftover odds and ends.

1971 November 22, Frank E. Emerson, “They Can Get It For You BETTER Than Wholesale”, in New York Magazine, page 38:

(uncountable, thieves' cant) Stolen goods; the booty of a burglar or thief; boodle.


remit

From Middle English remitten, from Latin remittere (“to send, send back”), present active infinitive of remittō. Compare Old French remettre, remetre, remitter.

(law) A communication from a superior court to a subordinate court.


inure

en-verb

inure (third-person singular simple present inures, present participle inuring, simple past and past participle inured)

inures (present singular third-person)
inuring (participle present)
inured (participle past)
inured (past)

From Middle English inuren, equivalent to in- + ure (“practise, exercise”).

Jim buys a beach house that includes the right to travel across the neighbor's property to get to the water. That right of way is said, cryptically, "to inure to the benefit of Jim".

(intransitive, chiefly law) To take effect, to be operative.


bequeath

bequeath (third-person singular simple present bequeaths, present participle bequeathing, simple past bequeathed or (obsolete) bequoth, past participle bequeathed or (rare) bequethen or (obsolete) bequothen)

bequeaths (present singular third-person)
bequeathing (participle present)
bequeathed (past)
bequoth (obsolete past)
bequeathed (participle past)
bequethen (participle past rare)
bequothen (obsolete participle past)

From Middle English biquethen, from Old English becweþan (“to say, to speak, to address, exhort, admonish, blame, bequeath, leave by will”), equivalent to be- + quethe. Cognate with Old Frisian biquetha.

inh

(law) To give or leave by will; to give by testament.


cancellation

en-noun

cancellation (countable and uncountable, plural cancellations)

From Latin cancellātiō, from cancellō + -tiō.

intellectual property
intellectual property

(law) In United States intellectual property law, a proceeding in which an interested party seeks to cancel the registration of a trademark or patent.


avow

en-verb

avow (third-person singular simple present avows, present participle avowing, simple past and past participle avowed)

avows (present singular third-person)
avowing (participle present)
avowed (participle past)
avowed (past)

From Middle English avowen, from Old French avouer, from Latin advocare (“to call to, call upon, hence to call as a witness, defender, patron, or advocate”), from ad (“to”) + vocare (“to call”). Doublet of advoke, avouch, and advocate. Not related to vow.

der

avow himself the accomplice of his crimes

1765–1769, William Blackstone, Commentaries on the Laws of England, (please specify |book=I to IV), Oxford, Oxfordshire: […] Clarendon Press, →OCLC:

(law) To acknowledge and justify, as an act done. See avowry.


commutation

en-noun

commutation (countable and uncountable, plural commutations)

From French commutation, from Latin commūtātiōnem, accusative singular of commūtātiō.

Monsieur the Marquis de Sade [was] now holed up in one of his châteaux while his wife worked for the commutation of a sentence passed on him recently for poisoning and buggery.

1992, Hilary Mantel, A Place of Greater Safety, Harper Perennial, published 2007, page 23:

(law) The change to a lesser penalty or punishment by the State

смекча́ване на наказа́ние

the change to a lesser penalty or punishment by the State


consummation

consummation (countable and uncountable, plural consummations)

(law) The date at which the mortgagor becomes contractually obligated to the mortgagee in a real estate transaction.


comprise

en-verb

comprise (third-person singular simple present comprises, present participle comprising, simple past and past participle comprised)

comprises (present singular third-person)
comprising (participle present)
comprised (participle past)
comprised (past)

From Middle English comprisen, from Old French compris, past participle of comprendre, from Latin comprehendere, contr. comprendere, past participle comprehensus (“to comprehend”); see comprehend. Compare apprise, reprise, surprise.

Coordinate term: compose (close-ended)

(patent law) To include, contain, or be made up of, defining the minimum elements, whether essential or inessential to define an invention.


compound

From Middle English compounen, from Middle French componre, compondre (“to put together”), from Latin componō, from Latin com- (“together”) + ponō (“to put”).

злучэнне

chemistry: substance made by chemical combination of elements

Compositionally there is no great distinction between cell wall and cell surface, both are relatively transparent compounds, but both parts of the cell are of high significance in Biology due to their central role in cell functioning.

2018, Clarence Green, James Lambert, “Position vectors, homologous chromosomes and gamma rays: Promoting disciplinary literacy through Secondary Phrase Lists”, in English for Specific Purposes, →DOI, page 8:

(law) A legal procedure whereby a criminal or delinquent avoids prosecution in a court in exchange for his payment to the authorities of a financial penalty or fine.


compound

compound (third-person singular simple present compounds, present participle compounding, simple past and past participle compounded)

compounds (present singular third-person)
compounding (participle present)
compounded (participle past)
compounded (past)

to compound a debt

(transitive, law) To settle by agreeing on less than the claim, or on different terms than those stipulated.

sich vergleichen

law: to settle by agreeing less than the claim


circumstantial

en-adj

circumstantial (comparative more circumstantial, superlative most circumstantial)

more circumstantial (comparative)
most circumstantial (superlative)

From Latin circumstantia + English -al, equivalent to circumstance + -ial.

It is unlikely he will be convicted; the evidence against him is circumstantial at best.

(law) Suggesting guilt, but not proving it conclusively.


cross-examination

en-noun

cross-examination (countable and uncountable, plural cross-examinations)

When Horsley finished his testimony, Richardson began the cross-examination, which was to last for twenty-six hours over the course of an entire week.

1999, Patrick J. Gallo, The American Paradox: Politics and Justice, page 62:

(law) The interrogation or questioning of a witness by the party against whom they have been called and examined, in an attempt to prove or reveal something false or untold during direct examination.

kruisverhoor

interrogating of a witness by the party against whom they have been called and examined


disbar

en-verb

disbar (third-person singular simple present disbars, present participle disbarring, simple past and past participle disbarred)

disbars (present singular third-person)
disbarring (participle present)
disbarred (participle past)
disbarred (past)

(law, transitive) To expel from the bar, or the legal profession; to deprive (an attorney, barrister, or counselor) of his or her status and privileges as such.

erottaa asianajajan virasta

to expel from the bar, or the legal profession

erottaa Asianajajaliitosta

Finland; all attorneys must be part of Asianajajaliitto, and removal from it is equivalent to disbarment


dedication

en-noun

dedication (countable and uncountable, plural dedications)

/ˌdɛdɪˈkeɪʃən/

Originated 1350–1400 from Middle English dedicacioun, from Old French dedicacion (“consecration of a church or chapel”), from Latin dēdicātiō, equivalent to dēdicātus+-iōn.

der

the dedication of this right-of-way

(law) The deliberate or negligent surrender of all rights to property.


devastation

en-noun

devastation (countable and uncountable, plural devastations)

(law) Waste or misapplication of the assets of a deceased person by an executor or administrator; devastavit.


dehors

(law) Out of; without; foreign to; out of the agreement, record, will, or other instrument.


dilapidation

dilapidation (countable and uncountable, plural dilapidations)

(law) The act of dilapidating, damaging a building or structure through neglect or intentionally.

(British, law) Ecclesiastical waste: impairing of church property by an incumbent, through neglect or intentionally.


contest

en-verb

contest (third-person singular simple present contests, present participle contesting, simple past and past participle contested)

contests (present singular third-person)
contesting (participle present)
contested (participle past)
contested (past)

PIE word
 *tréyes
From French contester, from Old French, from Latin contestor (“to call to witness”).

(law) To make a subject of litigation; to defend, as a suit; to dispute or resist, as a claim, by course of law.


decapitation

en-noun

decapitation (countable and uncountable, plural decapitations)

If the headsman's axe was sharp and his aim was true, decapitation was a quick and relatively painless form of death.

Beheading; the act of beheading or decapitating.


customary

From Middle English custumary, from Medieval Latin custumarius. By surface analysis, custom + -ary.

(law) A book containing laws and usages, or customs; a custumal.

coutumier

a book containing laws and usages, or customs


defamation

defamation (countable and uncountable, plural defamations)

/ˌdɛfəˈmeɪʃən/

From Old French diffamacion (French diffamation), from Latin diffāmātiō.

In a closed trial on December 24, 2004, the People’s Court of Jinshui District in the city of Zhengzhou, Henan Province, convicted Zhang Ruquan, along with his associate Zhang Zhengyao, in a public prosecution on charges of defamation that “seriously undermined social order or the state interest.” The two were sentenced to three years in prison for defaming former Chinese President Jiang Zemin.

2005, “Journalists Imprisoned in 2004”, in Bill Sweeney, editor, Attacks on the Press in 2004, →ISBN, →ISSN, →OCLC, page 251, column 2:

An hour later, when the Fox board approved the wire payment for $787.5 million — one of the largest known defamation settlements in history — Fox acknowledged what we needed it to acknowledge: spreading false claims comes with a huge price tag.

2023 April 21, John Poulos, “Dominion’s C.E.O.: Why We Settled the Lawsuit Against Fox News”, in The New York Times, →ISSN:

The act of injuring another person's reputation by any slanderous communication, written or oral; the wrong of maliciously injuring the good name of another.

shpifje

act of injuring another's reputation by any slanderous communication


dispensation

dispensation (countable and uncountable, plural dispensations)

From Old French despensacion, from Latin dispensātiō.

تَحِلَّة

[H]e had a dispensation for conforming in outward observances to the Protestant faith.

1822, [Walter Scott], chapter I, in Peveril of the Peak. […], volume I, Edinburgh: […] Archibald Constable and Co.; London: Hurst, Robinson, and Co., →OCLC, pages 5–6:

Why, there has gone already to Rome a messenger to crave a second dispensation from his Popeship, and the King himself hath signed the request, praying that you and I should graciously be permitted to wed!

1905, Samuel Rutherford Crockett, May Margaret: called "the fair maid of Galloway," - Page 184:

The relaxation of a law in a particular case; permission to do something forbidden, or to omit doing something enjoined; exemption.

(Catholicism) In the Roman Catholic Church, an exemption from some ecclesiastical law, or from an obligation to God which a person has incurred of his own free will (oaths, vows, etc.).


assault

assault (countable and uncountable, plural assaults)

From Middle English assaut, from Old French noun assaut, derived from the past participle of the verb assalir, from Late Latin assalīre, from Latin ad (“at, towards”) + salīre (“jump”). See also assail. Spelling Latinized around 1530 to add an l.

(criminal law) An attempt to commit battery: a violent attempt, or willful effort with force or violence, to do hurt to another, but without necessarily touching the person, such as by raising a fist in a threatening manner, or by striking at the person and missing.

pahoinpitelyn yritys

legal: violent attempt, or willful effort with force or violence to hurt another

(singular only, law) The crime whose action is such an attempt.

pahoinpitelyn yritys

legal: crime whose action is such an attempt

(tort law) An act that causes someone to apprehend imminent bodily harm (such as brandishing a weapon).

pahoinpitely

legal: act that causes someone to apprehend imminent bodily harm

(singular only, law) The tort whose action is such an act.

(fencing) A non-competitive combat between two fencers.


deceit

From Middle English deceyte, from Old French deceite, deçoite, from decevoir (“to deceive”), from Latin dēcipere (“to cheat, mislead”).

(law) The tort or fraudulent representation of a material fact made with knowledge of its falsity, or recklessly, or without reasonable grounds for believing its truth and with intent to induce reliance on it; the plaintiff justifiably relies on the deception, to his injury.

petos

legal: fraudulent representation of a material fact


exemplification

exemplification (countable and uncountable, plural exemplifications)

From Middle English exemplificacion, exemplification, from Anglo-Norman exemplification, from Medieval Latin exemplificātiō.

(law) A copy or transcript attested to be correct by the seal of an officer having custody of the original.


punitive

en-adj

punitive (comparative more punitive, superlative most punitive)

more punitive (comparative)
most punitive (superlative)

From Middle French punitif, from Medieval Latin pūnitīvus, from pūniō (“I punish”).

Washington imposed punitive sanctions on Syria.

The jury awarded $10,000 in punitive damages.

(law, military) Inflicting punishment; punishing.


demise

en-noun

demise (countable and uncountable, plural demises)

From Middle English demyse, dimise, dimisse, dymyse, from Middle French démise, the feminine singular past participle of démettre (“to put down, relinquish”); from Latin dēmissa, feminine singular of perfect passive participle of dēmittō. The senses "death, end" derive by way of euphemism from the legal sense, as a person's death was a common way that the legal demise could be accomplished.
The verb is from Middle English dimisen, from the noun.

(law) The conveyance or transfer of an estate, either in fee for life or for years, most commonly the latter.

прехвърляне

the conveyance or transfer of an estate, either in fee for life or for years


demise

en-verb

demise (third-person singular simple present demises, present participle demising, simple past and past participle demised)

demises (present singular third-person)
demising (participle present)
demised (participle past)
demised (past)

(transitive, law) To convey, as by will or lease.

(transitive, law) To transmit by inheritance.

(intransitive, law) To pass by inheritance.


determination

en-noun

determination (countable and uncountable, plural determinations)

/dɪˌtɜːmɪˈneɪʃən/

From Middle English determinacion, determynacioun, from Old French determinacion, from Latin dēterminātiō.
Morphologically determine + -ation

عَزِيمَة

act of determining, or the state of being determined

language analysis for the determination of origin

If a lease is determined by notice, forfeiture or frustration, all incumbrances will normally end automatically with the determination of the lease and can therefore be ignored.

2021, HM Land Registry, Practice guide 26: leases – determination, archived from the original on 2021-10-04:

So should that beauty which you hold in lease
Find no determination: then you were
Yourself again after yourself's decease […]

1609, William Shakespeare, “Sonnet 13”, in Shake-speares Sonnets. […], London: By G[eorge] Eld for T[homas] T[horpe] and are to be sold by William Aspley, →OCLC:

(law, otherwise obsolete) Bringing to an end; termination; limit.

opsigelse

(law, otherwise obsolete) bringing to an end; termination; limit


breach

From Middle English breche, from Old English bryċe (“fracture, breach”) and brǣċ (“breach, breaking, destruction”), from Proto-West Germanic *bruki, from Proto-Germanic *brukiz (“breach, fissure”) and *brēkō (“breaking”).

inh

breach of promise

(law) A breaking or infraction of a law, or of any obligation or tie; violation; non-fulfillment.


breach

en-verb

breach (third-person singular simple present breaches, present participle breaching, simple past and past participle breached)

breaches (present singular third-person)
breaching (participle present)
breached (participle past)
breached (past)

[…]the Pre-Sentence Report states that: "He was breached by the probation officer within several months of the commencement of the Probation Order for failing to report as he relocated to another Province and did not report there as directed.[…]"

2011 June 7, D.A. Harris, “R. v. Larochelle, 2011 ONCJ 339”, in CanLII, retrieved 2021-10-10:

(law, informal, transitive, usually passive) To charge or convict (someone) of breaching the terms of a bail, probation, recognizance, etc.


surrender

en-noun

surrender (countable and uncountable, plural surrenders)

From Middle English surrendre, from Anglo-Norman surrendre, infinitive as noun. Displaced native Old English handgang.

(law, property law) The yielding of the leasehold estate by the lessee to the landlord, so that the tenancy for years merges in the reversion and no longer exists.

luovutus

law, property law: the yielding of the leasehold estate by the lessee to the landlord


enshrine

en-verb

enshrine (third-person singular simple present enshrines, present participle enshrining, simple past and past participle enshrined)

enshrines (present singular third-person)
enshrining (participle present)
enshrined (participle past)
enshrined (past)

Other measures, such as compensation for victims, will be enshrined in the proposed new law.

The links were mostly to newspaper articles and public records, and Google refused to comply, but with the “right to be forgotten” enshrined as a key objective of the European Union’s 2011 data protection strategy, more and bigger cases are likely to follow.

2011 April 19, Sumit Paul-Choudhury, “Digital legacy: The fate of your online soul”, in NewScientist:

In total, it would have enshrined over 100 rights into Chile’s national charter, more than any other constitution in the world, including the right to housing, education, clean air, water, food, sanitation, internet access, retirement benefits, free legal advice and care “from birth to death.”

2022 September 4, Jack Nicas, “Chile Says ‘No’ to Left-Leaning Constitution After 3 Years of Debate”, in The New York Times, →ISSN:

(figurative, law) To protect (an idea, ideal, or philosophy) within an official law or treaty.

verankern

to protect within an official law or treaty


excommunication

en-noun

excommunication (countable and uncountable, plural excommunications)

From the Late Latin excommūnicātiō. Displaced native Old English āmǣnsumung.

The act of excommunicating, disfellowshipping or ejecting; especially an ecclesiastical censure whereby the person against whom it is pronounced is, for the time, cast out of the communication of the church; exclusion from fellowship in things spiritual.

отлъ́чване

от цъ́рквата


caution

caution (countable and uncountable, plural cautions)

Recorded since 1297 as Middle English caucioun (“bail, guarantee, pledge”), from Old French caution (“security, surety”), itself from Latin cautiō, from cautus, past participle of caveō, cavēre (“be on one's guard”).

inh

(law) A formal warning given as an alternative to prosecution in minor cases.


fixation

en-noun

fixation (countable and uncountable, plural fixations)

From Old French fixation. By surface analysis, fix + -ation.

In order to obtain copyright on a recording in the United States, the recording must have been reduced to fixation on or after February 15, 1972.

(law) Recording a creative work in a medium of expression for more than a transitory duration, thereby satisfying the "fixation" requirement for the purposes of copyright law.


caper

His caper had failed to find a comic resolution. Instead, there had been a genre switch, and the madcap adventure had turned serious. Or had this bleakness underlain the caper from the start?

2022, Jennifer Egan, “i, the Protagonist”, in The Candy House:

(figuratively) A crime, especially an elaborate heist, or a narrative about such a crime.


fiduciary

From Latin fīdūciārius (“held in trust”), from fīdūcia (“trust”).

a fiduciary contract

a fiduciary duty

(law) Relating to an entity that owes to another good faith, accountability and trust, often in the context of trusts and trustees.


fiduciary

“We focus on sustainability not because we’re environmentalists, but because we are capitalists and fiduciaries to our clients,” Mr. Fink wrote.

2022 January 18, Andrew Ross Sorkin, Michael J. de la Merced, quoting Larry Fink, “It’s Not ‘Woke’ for Businesses to Think Beyond Profit, BlackRock Chief Says”, in The New York Times, →ISSN:

(law) One who holds a thing in trust for another.


forgery

forgery (countable and uncountable, plural forgeries)

/ˈfɔː.dʒəɹ.ɪ/

/ˈfɔːɹ.d͡ʒəɹ.ɪ/

Recorded since 1574; from the verb to forge, from Middle English forgen, via Anglo-Norman forger, from Old French forgier, from Latin fabricari (“to frame, construct, fabricate”), itself from fabrica (“workshop; construction”), from faber (“workman, smith”).

der

the forgery of a bond

Such a scandal as the prosecution of a brother for forgery—with a verdict of guilty—is a most truly horrible, deplorable, fatal thing. It takes the respectability out of a family perhaps at a critical moment, when the family is just assuming the robes of respectability: […] it is a black spot which all the soaps ever advertised could never wash off.

1892, Walter Besant, “Prologue: Who is Edmund Gray?”, in The Ivory Gate […], New York, N.Y.: Harper & Brothers, […], →OCLC:

The act of forging, fabricating, or producing falsely; especially the crime of fraudulently making or altering a writing or signature purporting to be made by another, the false making or material alteration of or addition to a written instrument for the purpose of deceit and fraud.

vervalsing

the act of forging, fabricating or producing falsely


contumacious

en-adj

contumacious (comparative more contumacious, superlative most contumacious)

more contumacious (comparative)
most contumacious (superlative)

From Latin contumāx (“stubborn, obstinate”) + -ious.

(law) Willfully disobedient to the summons or orders of a court.


indemnification

en-noun

indemnification (countable and uncountable, plural indemnifications)


fornication

fornication (countable and uncountable, plural fornications)

/ˌfɔɹnɪˈkeɪʃən/

From Middle English fornicacioun, from Old French fornicacion, from Latin fornicātiō, from fornix (“brothel”).

FRIAR BARNARDINE. Thou hast committed—
BARABAS. Fornication: but that was in another country;
And besides, the wench is dead.

c. 1589–1590 (date written), Christopher Marlo[we], edited by Tho[mas] Heywood, The Famous Tragedy of the Rich Iew of Malta. […], London: […] I[ohn] B[eale] for Nicholas Vavasour, […], published 1633, →OCLC, Act IV:

I am the sister of one Claudio,
Condemned upon the act of fornication
To lose his head, condemned by Angelo

c. 1603–1604 (date written), William Shakespeare, “Measure for Measure”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act V, scene i]:

Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are these; Adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness, Idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies, Envyings, murders, drunkenness, revellings, and such like: of the which I tell you before, as I have also told you in time past, that they which do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God.

1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Galatians 5:19–21:

Draw not near unto fornication; for it is wickedness, and an evil way

1734, George Sale, transl., Alcoran of Mohammed, 17:32:

In one case, where a man was sued for committing fornication with his wife before marriage, it appeared, that seven years after her death he was cited to stand as a prisoner at their bar, though he had lived with her for nine years,[…]

1816, Cobbett's Parliamentary History of England: From the Norman Conquest, in 1066, to the Year, 1803, page 623:

... that he was a married man at the time is a necessary allegation, as the allegation that he was an unmarried man would have been necessary had he been charged with the crime of incest, by having committed fornication with his daughter.

1893, The Southwestern Reporter, page 840:

Thus, at Roxbury, 1678, Hanna Hopkins was censured in the church for fornication with her husband before marriage and for fleeing from justice into Rhode Island.

2013, Arthur W. Calhoun, The American Family in the Colonial Period, Courier Corporation, →ISBN:

(religion, law) Sexual intercourse by people who are not married to each other, or which is considered illicit in another way.


gazette

→ Kikuyu: ngathĩti

→ Maori: kāhiti

→ Swahili: gazeti

Borrowed from French gazette, from Italian gazzetta, from Venetian gazeta, from gazeta dele novità (literally “a gazeta (halfpenny) of news”), named for the cost (one gazeta) of the newspaper. Compare penny dreadful, dime novel. See gazzetta for more.

subsidiary legislation
subsidiary legislation

(law, often capitalized and italicized in legislations) An official periodical publication published by a government containing legal and state notices, and in some cases, legislations, subsidiary legislations and bills.


frustration

frustration (countable and uncountable, plural frustrations)

From Latin frūstrātiō (“disappointment”), related to frūstrā (“in vain”). By surface analysis, frustrate + -ion.

The act of frustrating, or the state, or an instance of being frustrated.

(law) The state of contract that allows a party to back away from its contractual obligations due to (unforeseen) radical changes to the nature of the thing a party has been obligated to.

Frustration

exact concept may not exist in German law


incarceration

incarceration (countable and uncountable, plural incarcerations)

/ɪŋˌkɑː(ɹ)səˈɹeɪʃən/

A constriction of the hernial sac, rendering it irreducible, but not great enough to cause strangulation.


incorporation

incorporation (countable and uncountable, plural incorporations)

/ɪŋ.kɔɹpəˈɹeɪʃən/

From Middle English incorporacioun, from Old French incorporacion, from Late Latin incorporatio.

(law) A doctrine of constitutional law according to which certain parts of the Bill of Rights are extended to bind individual American states. ᵂᵖ


indentation

indentation (countable and uncountable, plural indentations)

The explanatory report acknowledges that the result of the rule under the second indentation can appear arbitrary.

2013, Jenny Papettas, The Law Applicable to Cross Border Road Traffic Accidents, Birmingham, page 204:

(law) A division unit of a piece of law distinguished by its indentation or by a dash.


flake

From Middle English flake (“a flake of snow”), from Old English flacca and/or Old Norse flak (“loose or torn piece”) (compare Old Norse flakna (“to flake or chip”)), from Proto-Germanic *flaką (“something flat”), from Proto-Indo-European *pleh₂- (“flat, broad, plain”). Cognate with Norwegian flak (“slice, sliver”, literally “piece torn off”), Swedish flak (“a thin slice”), Danish flage (“flake”), German Flocke (“flake”), Dutch vlak (“smooth surface, plain”) and vlok (“flake”), as well as with Latin plaga (“flat surface, district, region”) and Welsh llech (“slate, tablet”). Doublet of plage.

cog

When police decided to score gamblers, they would most often flake people with gambling slips, then demand $25 or $50 for not arresting them. Other times, they would simply threaten a flake and demand money.

1973, Knapp Commission, New York, The Knapp Commission Report on Police Corruption, page 83:

(US, law enforcement, slang) A corrupt arrest, e.g. to extort money for release or merely to fulfil a quota.


flake

en-verb

flake (third-person singular simple present flakes, present participle flaking, simple past and past participle flaked)

flakes (present singular third-person)
flaking (participle present)
flaked (participle past)
flaked (past)

(US, law enforcement, slang) To plant evidence to facilitate a corrupt arrest.


impound

impound (third-person singular simple present impounds, present participle impounding, simple past and past participle impounded)

impounds (present singular third-person)
impounding (participle present)
impounded (participle past)
impounded (past)

to impound stray cattle

to impound a document for safekeeping.

I particularly enjoyed the tale of the Folkestone tank engine, which, in October, 1886, was impounded by H. M. Customs after smuggled brandy was found concealed in its coal bunker; the tank spent over a month in a harbour siding under Customs seal and proceedings were seriously contemplated against the S.E.R., as well as against the crew, for the engine's part in the affair.

1963 September, “New Books: The Locomotives of the South Eastern Railway”, in Modern Railways, page 216:

The container thought to have belonged to Garweg was impounded by police and removed from the site by the Federal Agency for Protective Relief (THW) on Sunday and taken for further examination.

2024 March 4, Kate Connolly, “German prosecutors urge Red Army Faction suspects to surrender”, in The Guardian, →ISSN:

(transitive, law) To hold in the custody of a court or its delegate.

confiscar

to hold in the custody of a court or its delegate

(transitive, law, banking) To collect and hold (funds) for payment of property taxes and insurance on property in which one has a security interest.


impound

en-noun

impound (countable and uncountable, plural impounds)

(law, banking) Amounts collected from a debtor and held by one with a security interest in property for payment of property taxes and insurance.


incur

en-verb

incur (third-person singular simple present incurs, present participle incurring, simple past and past participle incurred)

incurs (present singular third-person)
incurring (participle present)
incurred (participle past)
incurred (past)

From Middle English incurren, from Anglo-Norman encurir, Middle French encourir, from Old French encorre, from Latin incurrere.

كَبَّدَ

to expose oneself to something inconvenient

Near-synonyms: entail, invoke

The least neglect of duty will incur[...] the penalty of thirty-nine well laid on in the morning.

1861, Francis Colburn Adams, “Chapter VII”, in An Outcast:

Lest you incur me much more damage in my fame than you have done me pleasure in preserving my life.

1605 August (first performance), Geo[rge] Chapman, Ben Ionson, Ioh[n] Marston, Eastward Hoe. […], London: […] [George Eld] for William Aspley, published September 1605, →OCLC, (please specify the page):

(transitive) To bring upon oneself or expose oneself to, especially something inconvenient, harmful, or onerous; to become liable or subject to.

(chiefly law, accounting) To render (somebody, or oneself) liable or subject to.

كَبَّدَ

to render liable or subject to; to occasion


injunction

The act of enjoining; the act of directing, commanding, or prohibiting.

Its verbs are conjugated in a way that defies all the injunctions of the grammar books; it has its contumacious rules of tense, number and case; […]

1921 [1919], H. L. Mencken, chapter 39, in The American Language, 2nd edition, New York: Alfred A. Knopf, →ISBN, →OCLC, page 262:

At the end of the Falklands war two years earlier too, the Queen, whose second son, Andrew, had served as a helicopter pilot with the task force, was singularly untriumphalist and showed no inclination to follow her prime minister’s injunction to rejoice at victory.

September 8 2022, Stephen Bates, “Queen Elizabeth II obituary”, in The Guardian:

That which is enjoined; such as an order, mandate, decree, command, precept.

Coordinate term: declaratory judgment

Southwark council, which took out the injunction against Matt, believes YouTube has become the "new playground" for gang members.

2012 April 19, Josh Halliday, “Free speech haven or lawless cesspool – can the internet be civilised?”, in The Guardian:

(law) A writ or process, granted by a court of equity, and, in some cases, under statutes, by a court of law, whereby a party is required to do or to refrain from doing certain acts, according to the exigency of the writ.


bail

en-noun

bail (countable and uncountable, plural bails)

From Middle English baille, from the Old French verb bailler (“to deliver or hand over”) and noun bail (“lease”), from Latin bāiulāre, present active infinitive of bāiulō (“carry or bear”), from baiulus (“porter; steward”) (English: bailiff).

(law, UK) Release from imprisonment on payment of such money.

fiança

release from imprisonment on payment of such money

(law, UK) The person providing such payment.


bail

en-verb

bail (third-person singular simple present bails, present participle bailing, simple past and past participle bailed)

bails (present singular third-person)
bailing (participle present)
bailed (participle past)
bailed (past)

(law) To release a person under such guarantee.

päästää vapaaksi takuita vastaan

legal: to release a person under such guarantee

to bail cloth to a tailor to be made into a garment; to bail goods to a carrier

(law) To hand over personal property to be held temporarily by another as a bailment.

pantata

legal: to hand over personal property as a bailment


decimation

en-noun

decimation (countable and uncountable, plural decimations)

/ˌdɛsɪˈmeɪʃən/

Borrowed from Latin decimātiō, a punishment where every 10th man in a unit would be stoned to death by the men who were spared. Used by the Romans to keep order in their military. Compare septimation and vicesimation.

desimointi

creation of a new sequence comprising every nth element of the original

By decimation and a tythed death; / If thy Reuenges hunger for that Food, / Which Nature loathes, take thou the deſtin'd tenth, […]

c. 1605–1608, William Shakespeare, “The Life of Tymon of Athens”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act V, scene v], page 98, column 1:

(Ancient Rome, strictly) The killing or punishment of every tenth person, usually by lot.

desimaatio

selection of every tenth person for death or other punishment


invocation

invocation (countable and uncountable, plural invocations)

From Middle English invocacioun, from Old French invocacion, from Latin invocatio, invocationem.

the invocation of papers or evidence into court

(chiefly law) A call or summons, especially a judicial call, demand, or order.

призоваване

McNeil (D) contended that his courtroom appearance with an attorney for the West Allis crime constituted an invocation of his Miranda right to counsel and that his subsequent waiver during police-initiated questioning regarding the Caledonia crime was invalid.

As a matter of legal principle, the State should report whether all the necessary conditions for the invocation of the right of self-defense were existent.

2008, Jan Kittrich, The Right of Individual Self-Defense in Public International Law, →ISBN:

This chapter might have been titled “The First 'First Civil Right'”: before Richard Nixon's 1968 invocation of the right to protection from (black) crime, Truman Democrats advocated protection from (white) lawlessness as the first essential right.

2014, Naomi Murakawa, The First Civil Right: How Liberals Built Prison America, →ISBN:

(law) An act of invoking or claiming a legal right.


jailer

Inherited from Middle English gayoler, gayler, jayler, from Old French jaiolier, gaiolier, from jaiole. By surface analysis, jail + -er.

Sometimes some of the ejected ministers preached to them privately, and now and then the jailer allowed Mr. H. to go out in the night to preach to them, and administer the Lord's Supper.

1775, Samuel Palmer, The Nonconformist's Memorial:

But the next morning came, and my coffee was brought by her mother; the next, and the next, by the under jailers; and Angiola continued grievously ill.

1883, Silvio Pellico, chapter 32, in My Ten Years' Imprisonment:

The jailer was also roused by the earthquake and came to the outer door; he was perhaps a soldier, or at least had something of Roman discipline, giving him presence of mind.

2001, Sir William Mitchell Ramsay, St. Paul: The Traveler and Roman Citizen, page 176:

One who enforces confinement in a jail or prison.


multifarious

en-adj

multifarious (comparative more multifarious, superlative most multifarious)

more multifarious (comparative)
most multifarious (superlative)

(law, of lawsuits) In which a party or a cause of action has been improperly or wrongfully joined together in the same suit, as in a misjoinder, perhaps as a result of a joinder of unrelated, distinct, independent parties or matters.


flaw

From Middle English flawe, flay (“a flake of fire or snow, spark, splinter”), probably from Old Norse flaga (“a flag or slab of stone, flake”), from Proto-Germanic *flagō (“a layer of soil”), from Proto-Indo-European *plok- (“broad, flat”).
Cognate with Icelandic flaga (“flake”), Swedish flaga (“flake, scale”), Danish flage (“flake”), Middle Low German vlage (“a layer of soil”), Old English flōh (“a fragment, piece”).

cog

a flaw in a will, in a deed, or in a statute

A defect, fault, or imperfection, especially one that is hidden.

(law) A defect or error in a contract or other document which may make the document invalid or ineffective.


arrest

en-noun

arrest (countable and uncountable, plural arrests)

From Middle English arest (noun) and aresten (verb), from Old French areste (noun) and arester (“to stay, stop”, verb), from Vulgar Latin *arrestō, from Latin ad- (“to”) + restō (“to stop, remain behind, stay back”), from re- (“back”) + stō (“to stand”), from Proto-Indo-European *steh₂- (“to stand”), equivalent to ad- + rest. Compare French arrêter (“to stop”).

der

State police made a total of 15 drug-related arrests across the city.

(law) The process of arresting a criminal, suspect etc.

arrestasie

legal: process of arresting a criminal, suspect etc


grant

From Middle English granten, graunten, grantien, grauntien, from Anglo-Norman granter, graunter, from Old French granter, graunter, graanter, greanter (“to promise, assure, guarantee, confirm, ratify”), from a merger of Old French garantir, guarantir (“to guarantee, assure, vouch for”) (see English guarantee) and earlier cranter, craanter, creanter (“to allow, permit”), from an assumed Medieval Latin *credentāre, from Latin credere (“to believe, trust”). More at guarantee, credit.

a grant of land or of money

(law) A transfer of property by deed or writing; especially, an appropriation or conveyance made by the government.

apuraha

a transfer of property by deed or writing


liege

LL-Q1860 (eng)-Mélange a trois-liege.wav

From Middle English liege, lege, lige, from Anglo-Norman lige, from Old French liege (“liege, free”), from Middle High German ledic, ledec (“free, empty, vacant”) (Modern German ledig (“unmarried”)) from Proto-Germanic *liþugaz (“flexible, free, unoccupied”).
Akin to Old Frisian leþeg, leþoch (“free”), Old English liþiġ (“flexible”), Old Norse liðugr (“free, unhindered”), Old Saxon lethig (“idle”), Low German leddig (“empty”), Middle Dutch ledich (“idle, unemployed”) (Dutch ledig (“empty”) and leeg (“empty”)), Middle English lethi (“unoccupied, at leisure”).
An alternate etymology traces the Old French word to Late Latin laeticus (“of or relating to a semifree colonist in Gaul”), from Latin laetus (“a semi-free colonist”), from Gothic *𐌻𐌴𐍄𐍃 (*lēts) (attested in derivatives such as 𐍆𐍂𐌰𐌻𐌴𐍄𐍃 (fralēts)), from Proto-Germanic *lētaz (“freeman; bondsman, serf”), from *lētaną (“to let; free; release”).

der

it was a release by Katherine de Ros in her liege widowhood to Sir Thomas de Stirkeland

1908, Daniel Scott (of Penrith), Stricklands of Sizergh Castle:

(obsolete, law) Full; perfect; complete; pure.


intervene

en-verb

intervene (third-person singular simple present intervenes, present participle intervening, simple past and past participle intervened)

intervenes (present singular third-person)
intervening (participle present)
intervened (participle past)
intervened (past)

Back-formation from intervention, and/or from Latin interveniō (“come between”, verb).

намирам се между

to occur, to come between, points of time, or events

an application for leave (i.e. permission) to intervene

(law) In a suit to which one has not been made a party, to put forward a defense of one's interest in the subject matter.

intervenir

law: in a suit to which one has not been made a party, to put forward a defense of one's interest in the subject matter


proceed

proceed (third-person singular simple present proceeds, present participle proceeding, simple past and past participle proceeded)

proceeds (present singular third-person)
proceeding (participle present)
proceeded (participle past)
proceeded (past)

From Middle English proceden, from Old French proceder, from Latin prōcēdō (“I go forth, go forward, advance”), from prō (“forth”) + cēdō (“I go”); see cede.

der

“Gentlemen, shall we proceed?” the judge said.
From the beginning, Judge Fong appeared bored at Levine's coaxing remarks.

2005, Rodney Stich, Disavow: Sage of Betrayal:

(law, intransitive) To begin and carry on a legal process.


retry

en-verb

retry (third-person singular simple present retries, present participle retrying, simple past and past participle retried)

retries (present singular third-person)
retrying (participle present)
retried (participle past)
retried (past)

to retry a case

to retry an accused person

(transitive, law) To try judicially a second time.


revival

en-noun

revival (countable and uncountable, plural revivals)

the revival of a debt barred by limitation

the revival of a revoked will

(law) Restoration of force, validity, or effect; renewal; reinstatement of a legal action.


relieve

en-verb

relieve (third-person singular simple present relieves, present participle relieving, simple past and past participle relieved)

relieves (present singular third-person)
relieving (participle present)
relieved (participle past)
relieved (past)

From Old French relever, specifically from the conjugated forms such as (jeo) relieve (“I lift up”), and its source, Latin relevo (“to lift up, lighten, relieve, alleviate”), combined form of re- (“back”) + levo (“to lift”). Doublet of relevate. Compare levant, levity, etc.

der

This shall not relieve either Party of any obligations.

(law) To free (someone) from debt or legal obligations; to give legal relief to.


slayer

From Middle English slear, sleere, sleare, slaare, dissimilated from Old English slaga (“slayer”), equivalent to slay + -er.


regress

en-noun

regress (countable and uncountable, plural regresses)

(verb) From Latin regressus, past participle of regredior (“to go back”), from re- (“back”) + gradior (“to go”).

(property law) The right of a person (such as a lessee) to return to a property.


lease

→ Dutch: leasen

desctree

⇒ English: leasing
→ Spanish: leasing
→ Finnish: leasing
→ Polish: leasing
→ Swedish: leasing

From Middle English *lesen, from Anglo-Norman *leser, Old French lesser, laisier (“to let, let go”), partly from Latin laxō (“to loose”) and partly from Old High German lāzan (“to let, let go, release”) (German lassen), cognate with Old English lǣtan (“to allow, let go, leave, rent”) whence let.

cog

(formal, law) An interest in land granting exclusive use or occupation of real estate for a limited period; a leasehold.

kirayə

contract granting use or occupation of property


lease

en-verb

lease (third-person singular simple present leases, present participle leasing, simple past and past participle leased)

leases (present singular third-person)
leasing (participle present)
leased (participle past)
leased (past)

(transitive, formal, law) To grant a lease as a landlord; to let.