distress

en-verb

distress (third-person singular simple present distresses, present participle distressing, simple past and past participle distressed)

distresses (present singular third-person)
distressing (participle present)
distressed (participle past)
distressed (past)

This power of distress, as anciently used, became as oppressive as the feudal forfeiture. It was as hard for the tenant to be stripped in an instant of all his goods, for arrears of rent, as to be turned out of the possession of his farm.

1894, James Kent with William Hardcastle Browne, Commentaries on American Law, page 645:

(law) To retain someone’s property against the payment of a debt; to distrain.


facial

Early 17th century, borrowed from Medieval Latin faciālis (“face-to-face, direct, open”), from faciēs (“form, configuration, figure; face, visage, countenance”) + -ālis (“-al”, adjectival suffix).

af

The facial constitutionality of the law is in question.

(transferred sense, law) (of a law or regulation validity) On its face; as it appears (as opposed to on a more probing analysis, as it is applied, etc.).


unlawful

en-adj

unlawful (comparative more unlawful, superlative most unlawful)

more unlawful (comparative)
most unlawful (superlative)

From Middle English unlawful; equivalent to un- + lawful.

He was charged with unlawful use of a car.

That year a U.S. appeals court found the program Snowden had exposed was unlawful and that the U.S. intelligence leaders who publicly defended it were not telling the truth.

2022 September 26, “Putin grants Russian citizenship to U.S. whistleblower Snowden”, in Mark Trevelyan, editor, Reuters, archived from the original on 2022-09-26, Europe:

(law) Prohibited; not permitted by law (either civil or criminal law; see illegal); wrongful.

onwettig

prohibited; not permitted by law (either civil or criminal law)


institute

From French institut, from Middle French, from Latin īnstitūtum.

Substitution is the nomination of substituted heirs, who take place, failing the institute.

1681, Viscount Stair, The Institutions of the Law of Scotland:

(law, Scotland) The person to whom an estate is first given by destination or limitation.


institute

en-verb

institute (third-person singular simple present institutes, present participle instituting, simple past and past participle instituted)

institutes (present singular third-person)
instituting (participle present)
instituted (participle past)
instituted (past)

From Middle English, from Latin īnstitūtus, past participle of īnstituō (“I set up, place upon, purpose, begin, institute”), from in (“in, on”) + statuō (“set up, establish”).

a writ issued to the bishop, to institute the clerk of that patron

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

(ecclesiastical, law) To invest with the spiritual charge of a benefice, or the care of souls.


impeachment

en-noun

impeachment (countable and uncountable, plural impeachments)

→ Polish: impeachment

→ Portuguese: impeachment

desctree

→ Russian: импи́чмент (impíčment)
→ Kazakh: импичмент (impiçment)

→ Spanish: impeachment

Richard Nixon
United States Senate
Watergate scandal

From Middle English empechement (“hindrance, impediment, obstacle, obstruction; legal accusation or charge; act of calling into question or discrediting; challenge to a claim or right”), and thence either:
* from Middle English empechen, empeschen, empesche, enpechen, impechen (“to cause to get stuck; of a ship: to run aground; to block, obstruct; to hinder, impede; to prevent; to interfere with, harm; to criticize, disparage; to bring charges against; to formally accuse of treason or another high crime”) (from Anglo-Norman empecher, Old French empechier, empeechier) + -ment (suffix forming action nouns, concrete nouns, and nouns indicating a result or a condition or state); or
* from Old French empechement, empeechement, empeschement (“obstacle”) (modern French empêchement (“impediment, obstacle”)), from empeechier (“to fetter; to hinder”), empescher (“to inhibit, prevent”) + -ment (suffix forming nouns from verbs).
The English word is analysable as impeach + -ment.
Old French empechier, empeechier and empescher (compare modern French empêcher) are derived from Late Latin impedicāre (“to catch; to entangle”), present active infinitive of Latin impedicō (“to entangle; to fetter”), from im- (variant of in-) + pedica (“fetter, shackle; snare, trap”) (from pēs (“foot”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *ped- (“to step, walk; to fall, stumble”)) + -ō.
In senses 1.2 (“accusation that a person has committed a crime”) and 1.3 (“act of impeaching or charging a public official with misconduct”), the word has been used in place of Latin impetere, the present active infinitive of impetō (“to assail, attack, rush upon”).

Abqualifizierung

It is sometimes intimated that testimony which is direct and positive cannot legally be rebutted and overturned by presumptions less high than those which are juris et de jure in the absence of impeachment of the credibility of the witnesses. We are not prepared to accept that proposition unqualifiedly.

1903 November 16, Francis T. Nicholls, Chief Justice, “Barras et al. v. Barras”, in T. H. Thorpe, editor, Louisiana Reports: Cases Argued and Determined in the Supreme Court of Louisiana at Term Beginning First Monday of November, 1903, volume III, St. Paul, Minn.: West Publishing Co., published 1904, →OCLC, column 299:

calling into question
call into question

(countable) The act of calling into question or challenging the accuracy or propriety of something.

(countable, law) A demonstration in a court of law, or before another finder of fact, that a witness was ingenuine before, and is therefore less likely to tell the truth now.

He [William Howard, 1st Viscount Stafford] is charged in the Articles of Impeachment with Contriving the Death of the King, and being at ſeveral Meetings and Conſults about the King's Death, and Hiring Perſons to kill the King; And are theſe no Overt Acts? [...] My Lords, another Exception that is taken, is, That there is no Indictment. I conceive that an Impeachment of the Houſe of Commons is more than an Indictment. And there cannot be any doubt of that, the Impeachment of the Houſe of Commons having always been received and proceeded on by your Lordships.

1680 December 4, “The Fifth Day”, in The Tryal of William Viscount Stafford for High Treason, […], Dublin: Reprinted by Jos[eph] Ray, […], and are to be sold by S. Helsham, Joh. North, Jos[eph] Howes […], published 1681, →OCLC, page 243:

Backed by the Treasurer's bitterest enemies he brought charges against Danby. Impeachment followed. There was fresh uproar in the House.

1923, Georgette Heyer, “The Revenge”, in The Great Roxhythe, Boston, Mass.: Small, Maynard and Company, →OCLC, page 325:

(countable, law, British) An accusation that a person has committed a crime against the state, such as treason.

Anklage wegen Landesverrats

The Boſton Gazette of March 7 contains articles of impeachment of high crimes and miſdemeanors againſt Peter Oliver, Eſq; Chief Juſtice of the Superior Court of Judicature, &c., over the Province of Maſſachuſets Bay, by the Houſe of Repreſentatives in General Court aſſembled, [...] [T]he Aſſembly perſiſted in their impeachment, which was carried, upon a diviſion, yeas 92, nays 8: [...]

1774 May, “American Affairs”, in Sylvanus Urban [pseudonym; Edward Cave], editor, The Gentleman’s Magazine, and Historical Chronicle, volume XLIV, London: Printed […], for D[avid] Henry, and sold by F[rancis] Newbery, […], published January 1755, →OCLC, pages 236–237:

The awful diſcretion, which a court of impeachments muſt neceſſarily have, to doom to honour or to infamy the moſt confidential and the moſt diſtinguiſhed characters of the community, forbids the commitment of the truſt to a ſmall number of perſons.

1788, Publius [pseudonym; Alexander Hamilton], “Number LXV. A Further View of the Constitution of the Senate, in Relation to Its Capacity as a Court for the Trial of Impeachments.”, in The Federalist: A Collection of Essays, Written in Favour of the New Constitution, […] , volume II, New York, N.Y.: […] J. and A. M‘Lean, […], →OCLC, page 211:

The acts for which an officer may be impeached, are preciſely thoſe for which he may be indicted as an officer; miſdemeanors in office, offences or unlawful acts done with an evil intention in his official capacity. For ſuch only can he be convicted on an Impeachment. And no officer can be convicted on an Impeachment, unleſs, on the ſame charge, and on the ſame evidence, he ought to be convicted on an Indictment. The ground of both is an unlawful act with an evil intention. Impeachment is Indictment, in other form, adopted in England for great offenders, whoſe influence might defeat the justice of the ordinary tribunals, and retained in Pennſylvania, either from ſimilar motives, or from imitation.

1803, Alexander Addison, Thomas Lloyd, stenographer, The Trial of Alexander Addison, Esq. […], on an Impeachment by the House of Representatives, before the Senate of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. […], 2nd edition, Lancaster, Pa.: Printd by George Helmbold, junior, for Lloyd and Helmbold, jun., →OCLC, pages 103–104:

Another letter [...] is worthy of being remembered, not merely as expressing more clearly Edmund Verney's antipathy of a Scotish war, but also as indicating what were his expectations, and no doubt the general expectations, of the results of calling a parliament. The quashing of ship-money, the abolition of monopolies, and even the impeachments of [William] Laud and [Thomas Wentworth, 1st Earl of] Strafford, are here clearly foreseen.

1853, John Bruce, editor, Letters and Papers of the Verney Family down to the End of the Year 1639. Printed from the Original MSS. in the Possession of Sir Harry Verney, Bart. (Publications (Camden Society); 56), London: Printed for the Camden Society, by John Bowyer Nichols and Sons, […], →OCLC, page 271:

The impeachment process provides a mechanism for removal of the President, Vice President, and other federal civil officers found to have engaged in "treason, bribery, or other high crimes and misdemeanors." The Constitution places the responsibility and authority to determine whether to impeach and to draft articles of impeachment in the hands of the House of Representatives. A number of means have been used to trigger the House's investigation, but the ultimate decision in all instances as to whether impeachment is appropriate rests with the House. Should the House vote to impeach and vote articles of impeachment specifying the grounds upon which impeachment is based, the matter is then presented to the Senate for trial.

2010 April 8, Elizabeth B. Bazan, Anna C. Henning, “Summary”, in Impeachment: An Overview of Constitutional Provisions, Procedure, and Practice (CRS Report for Congress; 98-186), [Washington, D.C.]: Congressional Research Service, Library of Congress, →OCLC:

In popular impeachments, the street protesters use disruption in order to apply the ultimate accountability sanction for a president: removal from power. [...] Popular impeachments have only happened under extraordinary circumstances. In the case of legal accountability: blatant corruption, abuses of power, or both, that seem to go unpunished. In the case of political accountability: economic meltdowns, major political crises, or both, with no signs of light at the end of the tunnel.

2013, Leon Zamosc, “Popular Impeachments: Ecuador in Comparative Perspective”, in Mario Sznajder, Luis Roniger, Carlos A. Forment, editors, Shifting Frontiers of Citizenship: The Latin American Experience (International Comparative Social Studies; 29), Leiden: Brill, →ISBN, →ISSN, page 265:

There is even a gender gap in support for impeachment, with more American women than men in favor of the House inquiry – and Trump’s removal from office.

2019 November 22, Lauren Gambino, “'Absolute fearlessness': women take impeachment spotlight and speak truth as Trump fumes”, in The Guardian:

(countable, law, chiefly US) The act of impeaching or charging a public official with misconduct, especially if serious, often with the aim of having the official dismissed from office.


conversion

en-noun

conversion (countable and uncountable, plural conversions)

From Middle English conversion, conversioun, borrowed from Anglo-Norman conversion, from Latin conversiō, from convertō.

обръщане

the act of having converted something or someone

המרת דת

to replace one religious faith with another

the conversion of a horse

Or bring my action of conversion / And trover for my goods.

1662 (indicated as 1663), [Samuel Butler], “[The First Part of Hudibras]”, in Hudibras. The First and Second Parts. […], London: […] John Martyn and Henry Herringman, […], published 1678; republished in A[lfred] R[ayney] Waller, editor, Hudibras: Written in the Time of the Late Wars, Cambridge, Cambridgeshire: University Press, 1905, →OCLC:

(law) Under the common law, the tort of the taking of someone's personal property with intent to permanently deprive them of it, or damaging property to the extent that the owner is deprived of the utility of that property, thus making the tortfeasor liable for the entire value of the property.


manslaughter

manslaughter (countable and uncountable, plural manslaughters)

From Middle English manslaȝter, manslauter, equivalent to man + slaughter, or taken as an adaptation of Old English mansliht (“murder; killing of a person”), from mann (“person”) + sliht (“killing”), see manslaught. Cognate with Scots manslauchter (“homicide”). Compare also Old Frisian monslaga (“murder”).

inh

For that cause We decreed for the Children of Israel that whosoever killeth a human being for other than manslaughter or corruption in the earth, it shall be as if he had killed all mankind, and whoso saveth the life of one, it shall be as if he had saved the life of all mankind.

1930, Marmaduke Pickthall, transl., The Meaning of the Glorious Koran, surah 5, verse 32:

(obsolete) The slaying of a human being.

justifiable homicide
justifiable homicide

(law) The unlawful killing of a human, either in negligence or incidentally to the commission of some unlawful act, but without specific malice, or upon a sudden excitement of anger; considered less culpable than murder, but more culpable than justifiable homicide.

[Verbrechen] mit Todesfolge

intentional harm but unintentional killing

előre meg nem fontolt szándékkal elkövetett emberölés


porridge

en-noun

porridge (usually uncountable, plural porridges)

Variant of pottage (“thick soup or stew”), influenced by porray (“stew of leeks”). The "prison sentence" sense comes from the British tradition of serving prisoners porridge for breakfast.

keep one's breath to cool one's porridge

save one's breath to cool one's porridge

Just do your porridge and keep your head down.

(British, slang, uncountable) A prison sentence.

pap

breakfast cereal dish — see also oatmeal


extinct

en-verb

extinct (third-person singular simple present extincts, present participle extincting, simple past extincted, past participle extincted or (obsolete) extinct)

extincts (present singular third-person)
extincting (participle present)
extincted (past)
extincted (participle past)
extinct (obsolete participle past)

From Middle English extincten (“to extinguish or put out (a fire, light, etc.); to destroy, kill; (figurative) to suppress (an uprising); (law) to quash or stop (legal proceedings); to cancel (a privilege, title, etc.); (medicine) to eliminate or reduce (inflammation, an ulcer, etc.)”), from extinct (adjective) (see etymology 1) + -en (suffix forming the infinitive of verbs).

inh

So if I have a rent charge, and grant it upon condition; now, though the condition be broken, the grantee's estate is not defeated till I have made my claim: but if after any such grant my father purchase the land, and it descend to me; now, if the condition be broken, the rent ceaseth without claim. But if I had purchased the land myself, then I had extincted mine own condition, because I had disabled myself to make my claim.

c. 1596 (date written), Francis Bacon, “Maxims of the Law. Regula IX. Quod remedio destituitur ipsa re valet, si culpa absit.”, in James Spedding, Robert Leslie Ellis, and Douglas Denon Heath, editors, The Works of Francis Bacon, […], volume VII, London: Longman, Green, and Co.; […], published 1859, →OCLC, page 353:

And foraſmuch as the ſaid Statute vvas ordained to give a Certainty of Title in the Lands and Tenements compriſed in the Fine, it ſeemeth that the Fine extincteth the Title of all other, as vvell in Conſcience, as it doth in the Lavv.

1746, Christopher St. Germain, “The Fifth Question of the Student”, in Doctor and Student: Or Dialogues between a Doctor of Divinity, and a Student in the Laws of England, […], In the Savoy [London]: […] Henry Lintot, (assignee of Edward Sayer, Esq), →OCLC, page 74:

(obsolete, figurative, chiefly law) To abolish or make void (a law, a legal right, etc.); also, to cancel (a creditor's claim, a licence, etc.).


intangible

LL-Q1860 (eng)-Usmaan (Middle river exports)-intangible.wav

Borrowed from Middle French intangible, from Medieval Latin intangibilis, from Late Latin tangibilis, from Latin tango.

(law) Incorporeal property that is saleable though not material, such as bank deposits, stocks, bonds, and promissory notes


forger

-ɔː(ɹ)dʒə(ɹ)

From Middle English forger, forgere, from Old French forgiere; equivalent to forge + -er.

A person who creates forgeries, falsifies documents with intent to defraud, e.g. to create a false will or illicit copies of currency; counterfeiter.

կեղծարար

person who creates forgeries, falsifies documents with intent to defraud; counterfeiter


bratva

Borrowed from Russian братва (bratva, “brothers; brotherhood”).

triad

Southeast Asian organized crime syndicate

cartel

Latin American organized crime syndicate

(countable) A Russian organized crime syndicate/family.

(as "the bratva") Russian organized crime collectively.


Nigerian scam

The scam messages usually claim to originate from Nigeria, though this is often a spoof.

Even savvy Internet users have fallen victim to the ubiquitous Nigerian scam.

(Internet) An attempt to defraud by sending out large numbers of emails, each stating that the recipient is entitled to receive a large amount of money, but will need to supply banking account details, or to send payment for fees, before the payment can be passed on.


concurring opinion

en-noun

concurring opinion (plural concurring opinions)

(law) An opinion which follows the outcome of the majority of the court, but might be reached in a differing manner.


confessio

From Latin cōnfessiō. Doublet of confession.

(law) A confession; a defense of one's faith, or a confession of guilt.


grandfather clause

grandfather clause (plural grandfather clauses)

From late 19th-century legislation and constitutional amendments passed by a number of U.S. Southern states, which created new literacy and property restrictions on voting, but exempted those whose grandfathers had the right to vote before the American Civil War. The intent and effect of such rules was to prevent poor and illiterate African American former slaves and their descendants from voting, but without denying poor and illiterate whites the right to vote.

Many building codes include a grandfather clause exempting older buildings until some amount of remodeling occurs.

The “grandfather clause” provides that no man whose grandfather could not vote, can exercise the right of franchise. It will thus disenfranchise many negroes, whose grandfathers were slaves.

1910 October 27, “Grandfather's Clause”, in The New York Times, →ISSN:

Under the Fifteenth Amendment there is little political legislation, except the effort in Southern States by educational or property qualifications, and most questionably by the so-called "grandfather clause," to exclude most negroes from the right of suffrage.

1911, Frederic Jesup Stimson, chapter XVI, in Popular Law-making:

The compromise that was finally struck will eliminate the minimum benefit for future retirees. But a “grandfather” clause allows the three million pensioners already receiving it to keep on getting it.

1981 December 17, “Santa Claus? No, Grandfather Clause”, in The New York Times, →ISSN:

A grandfather clause will allow senior members retiring this year to transfer these funds to their personal bank accounts.

1992 January 18, “Undeserving 'Grandfathers'”, in The New York Times, →ISSN:

In 1915, the Supreme Court ruled unanimously in Guinn v. United States that grandfather clauses were unconstitutional. The court in those days upheld any number of segregationist laws — and even in Guinn specified that literacy tests untethered from grandfather clauses were OK.

2013 October 22, Alan Greenblatt, “The Racial History Of The 'Grandfather Clause'”, in NPR.org:

A clause or section, especially in a law, granting exceptions for people or organisations who were affected by previous conditions.

ava klaŭzo

exeption for those joined under the previous law


in personam

From Latin in persōnam (literally “towards a person”).

bor

Coordinate term: in rem

in personam judgment

(law) In a lawsuit against a specific individual, a summons and complaint to give the court jurisdiction that is served to a person to try a case. In personam means that a judgment can be enforceable against the person wherever he/she is.


carnal knowledge

to have carnal knowledge of someone

to knock a woman, to have carnal knowledge of her

1785, [Francis Grose], “Knock”, in A Classical Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue, London: […] S. Hooper, […], →OCLC:

The legal definition of rape, is the carnal knowledge of a woman by force, and against her will. The carnal knowledge of a child, under ten years of age, with or without her consent, is considered rape.

1836, Michael Ryan, A Manual of Medical Jurisprudence, 2nd edition, London: Sherwood, Gilbert, and Piper, page 309:

(archaic, chiefly law) Sexual intercourse.


covert

en-adj

covert (comparative more covert, superlative most covert)

more covert (comparative)
most covert (superlative)

From Middle English covert, from Old French covert, past participle of covrir (“to cover”) (corresponding to Latin coopertus); cognate to cover.

feme covert

[…] a separate use for a woman cannot be created unless she is covert, or unless in immediate contemplation of her marriage.

1880, Weekly Notes of Cases Argued and Determined in the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania, the County Courts of Philadelphia, and the United States District and Circuit Courts for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania, page 292:

[…] in the second case, as long as the woman is covert she cannot anticipate the income, and a mere alienation of her interest is not an attempt to anticipate.

1890, Albert Gibson, Robert McLean, Law Notes, page 77:

Being advised of the fact that the woman is covert, he stands charged with a knowledge of her disability . A married woman has no power to deal as principal if she is in fact a surety […]

1906, Abraham Clark Freeman, The American State Reports: Containing the Cases of General Value and Authority Subsequent to Those Contained in the "American Decisions" [1760-1869] and the "American Reports" [1869-1887] Decided in the Courts of Last Resort of the Several States [1886-1911], page 305:


reservation

en-noun

reservation (countable and uncountable, plural reservations)

/ˌɹɛzəˈveɪʃən/

/ˌɹɛzɚˈveɪʃən/

From Middle French reservation, equivalent to reserve + -ation.

Coordinate term: disallowance

(law, politics) A power of an overseeing authority to suspend legislation in the jurisdiction being overseen pending the approval of a higher authority. Such as a provincial/state governor reserving a bill passed by the state/provincial legislature from assent, pending approval of the federal government; or a federal bill passed by federal parliament being reserved by the viceroy pending approval by the crown.


copyrighted

(law) Covered by a copyright, not public domain.


objection

/əbˈd͡ʒɛkʃən/

From Middle French objection, from Old French objeccion, from Latin obiectio.

Counsel for the property owner immediately raised an objection which was sustained following argument outside the presence of the jury.

1994, Stephen Davis Porter, editor, Illinois Appellate Reports: Official Reports of the Illinois Appellate Court, page 500:

(law) An official protest raised in a court of law during a legal trial over a violation of the rules of the court by the opposing party.


objection

/əbˈd͡ʒɛkʃən/

Objection! That is irrelevant to this case, Your Honor!

(chiefly US, law) An assertion that a question or statement is in violation of the rules of the court.


litigate

en-verb

litigate (third-person singular simple present litigates, present participle litigating, simple past and past participle litigated)

litigates (present singular third-person)
litigating (participle present)
litigated (participle past)
litigated (past)

From Latin lītigāre, present active infinitive of lītigō; which, in its turn, stems from lītem (“a quarrel”) + agō (“do, practice”).

Ain't got no place to lay your head / Somebody came and took your bed / Don't worry, be happy / The landlord say your rent is late / He may have to litigate

1988, “Don't Worry, Be Happy”, in Bobby McFerrin (lyrics), Simple Pleasures, performed by Bobby McFerrin:

(intransitive, construed with on) To go to law; to carry on a lawsuit.


cartel

→ Spanish: cártel

In the business sense, borrowed from German Kartell, first used by Eugen Richter in 1871 in the Reichstag. In the political sense, which was the vehicle for this metaphor, the English sense, like the German sense, was borrowed from French cartel in the sixteenth century, from Italian cartello, diminutive of carta (“card, page”), from Latin charta.

He then sent down a flag of truce in military style, proposing a cartel or exchange of prisoners – the corporal for the notary.

1832, Tales of the Alhambra, Washington Irving:

(historical, law) An official agreement concerning the exchange of prisoners.

kartel

official agreement concerning exchange of prisoners


citizen's arrest

en-noun

citizen's arrest (plural citizen's arrests or citizens' arrests)

citizen's arrests (plural)
citizens' arrests (plural)

(uncountable, law) The right of a person who is not acting as a sworn law enforcement official to detain a suspected criminal until the police can be summoned.

公民逮捕權

right of a person to detain a suspected criminal

(countable, law) An arrest made under this right.


suffrage

suffrage (usually uncountable, plural suffrages)

From Middle English suffrage (“prayers or pleas on behalf of another”), from Old French, from Medieval Latin suffragium, from Latin suffragium (“support, vote, right of voting”). The sense of "vote" or "right to vote" was directly derived from classical Latin.

der

Lactantius and St. Austin are not afraid to confirm by their suffrage the observation made by the heathen writers, that[…]

1707, Francis Atterbury, Sermons and Discourses on Several Subjects and Occasions, volume 2, published 1740, Sermon IV, page 137:

Every miracle is the suffrage of heaven to the truth of a doctrine.

a. 1716, Robert South, Sermons Preached Upon Several Occasions, volume 8, published 1744, Sermon XIV, page 412:

A careful toilette is a perpetual flattery—it shows that you desire to please, and people like that; for we all attach an undue value to our own suffrage.

1834, L[etitia] E[lizabeth] L[andon], chapter VII, in Francesca Carrara. […], volume II, London: Richard Bentley, […], (successor to Henry Colburn), →OCLC, page 66:

Testimony; attestation; witness; approval.


verification

en-noun

verification (countable and uncountable, plural verifications)

From Middle French vérification, from Medieval Latin verificatio.

(law) A formal phrase used in concluding a plea, to denote confirmation by evidence.


SBS

sick building syndrome
sick building syndrome#English

(pathology) Initialism of sick building syndrome, health effects experienced by building occupants that appear to be linked to time spent in a building.

shaken baby syndrome
shaken baby syndrome#English

(pathology) Initialism of shaken baby syndrome.


SBS

(Australia, broadcasting) Initialism of Special Broadcasting Service.

Seoul Broadcasting System
w:Seoul Broadcasting System

(South Korea, broadcasting) Initialism of Seoul Broadcasting System.

Special Boat Service
w:Special Boat Service

(UK, military) Initialism of Special Boat Service, an elite unit of the British Royal Marines, similar to the SAS but operating in a naval environment.


resignation

resignation (countable and uncountable, plural resignations)

/ˌɹɛz.ɪɡˈneɪ.ʃən/

/ˌɹez.ɪɡˈnæɪ.ʃən/

From Middle English resignacion, resignacioun, from Old French resignation, from Medieval Latin resignātiōnem, accusative of resignātio. Equivalent to resign + -ation.

(Scots law, historical) The form by which a vassal returns the feu into the hands of a superior.


quiddity

quiddity (countable and uncountable, plural quiddities)

From Middle French quiddité, and its source, Late Latin quidditas, from Latin quid (“what”) + -itas (“-ness”).


erroneous

en-adj

erroneous (comparative more erroneous, superlative most erroneous)

more erroneous (comparative)
most erroneous (superlative)

/ɪˈɹəʊ.nɪ.əs/

/ɛɹˈəʊ.nɪ.əs/

From late Middle English erroneous, from Middle French erroneux, from Latin erroneus.

If, while having the power to act, one commits error in the exercise of that power, he acts erroneously.

(law) Deviating from the requirements of the law, but without a lack of legal authority, thus not illegal.


summary

summary (comparative more summary, superlative most summary)

more summary (comparative)
most summary (superlative)

From Middle English summary, from Medieval Latin summārius, from Latin summa (“total, sum”) + -ārius (suffix forming adjectives).

The matter was brought to a close by summary dismissal of the cases.

The summary executions caused outrage.

(law) Performed by omitting the procedures of a full trial.

по съкратена процедура

cutting the procedures of a normal trial


transmission

en-noun

transmission (countable and uncountable, plural transmissions)

Borrowed from Latin transmissionem (accusative of transmissio), from transmittere.

monochromated scanning transmission electron microscope

(law) The right possessed by an heir or legatee of transmitting to his successor(s) any inheritance, legacy, right, or privilege, to which he is entitled, even if he should die without enjoying or exercising it.


hangman's noose

hangman's noose (plural hangman's nooses)

A kind of knot used primarily to execute a person by hanging.

уда́вка

затя́гивающаяся


gallows

gallows (plural gallows or (rare) gallowses)

gallows (plural)
gallowses (plural rare)

From Middle English galwes, galewes, plural of galwe, galowe, from Old English gealga, from Proto-West Germanic *galgō, from Proto-Germanic *galgô, from Proto-Indo-European *ǵʰalgʰ-, *ǵʰalg- (“long switch, rod, shaft, pole, perch”). The plural construction probably refers to the vertical and horizontal beams.
Compare West Frisian galge, Dutch galg, German Galgen, Danish galge, Icelandic gálgi.
For the pronunciation /ˈɡæləs/, compare bellows, bodice.

No, Sir, 'tis fear of Hanging. Who would not ſteal, or do Murder, every time his Fingers itch'd at it, were it not for fear of the Gallows?

1728, Thomas Otway, “The Atheist, or, the Second Part of the Solider's Fortune”, in The Works of Mr. Thomas Otway, volume 2, London, page 37:

Wooden framework on which persons are put to death by hanging.

مِشْنَقَة

wooden framework on which persons are put to death by hanging

galgbacke

site with one or more gallows for executions


drawdown

drawdown (countable and uncountable, plural drawdowns)

The presidential drawdown authority, a US foreign policy tool, allows for the speedy delivery of DoD stocks to foreign countries in crisis.

2023 December 27, “US to provide Ukraine with up to $250m in arms and equipment”, in The Guardian, →ISSN:

The act of reduction or depletion (including through withdrawal or utilization).

(US, military, law, in particular) The withdrawal of weapons, ammunition and other supplies from US stocks, and provision of it to another nation.


SWAT

SWAT (countable and uncountable, plural SWATs)

(chiefly US, law enforcement) Acronym of special weapons and tactics. The area of expertise of police officers trained and equipped to neutralize armed or entrenched criminals.

special weapons and tactics

"This situation is out of control. We need a SWAT," the policeman said.

(chiefly US, law enforcement) A SWAT team


caption

Borrowed from Latin captiō (“deception, fraud”), from the past participle of capiō (“I take, I seize”) (English capture). Compare Middle English capcioun (“seizure, capture”).

cog

(law) The section on an official paper (for example, as part of a seizure or capture) that describes when, where, and what was taken, found or executed, and who authorized the act.

1919 Thomas Welburn Hughes. A treatise on criminal law and procedure. The Bobbs-Merril Co., Indianapolis, IN, USA. Sec. 557 (p. 378).
The caption and asportation must be felonious.

(obsolete, law) A seizure or capture, especially of tangible property (chattel).


dispositif

terms expressing the notion for court decision under common law

Thereafter the court ruled unanimously in paragraph 2c of its dispositif that threat or use of force by means of nuclear weapons is contrary to the UN charter and is unlawful.

(international law) A part of a document that communicates the decisions taken by some organization or nation on a particular issue.

(sociology) According to Michel Foucault, the aggregate of institutional, physical and administrative mechanisms and knowledge structures that enhance and maintain the exercise of power within society.


crony

Cambridge University
Samuel Pepys
The New York Times
William Safire

Coined between 1655 and 1665 from Ancient Greek χρόνιος (khrónios, “perennial, long-lasting”) (English chrono- (“time”), initially as Cambridge University slang, in sense of “chum”, as “friend of long standing”, with illegal connotation later.
Early spellings included chrony, as in 1665 diary by Samuel Pepys, supporting the Greek origin.

der

Rip now resumed his old walks and habits; he soon found many of his former cronies, though all rather the worse for the wear and tear of time; and preferred making friends among the rising generation, with whom he soon grew into great favour.

1819 June 23, Geoffrey Crayon [pseudonym; Washington Irving], “Rip Van Winkle”, in The Sketch Book of Geoffrey Crayon, Gent., number I, New York, N.Y.: […] C[ornelius] S. Van Winkle, […], →OCLC, page 91:

(informal, originally Cambridge University) A close friend.

(informal) A trusted companion or partner in a criminal organization.


crony

Marry not an old crony.

1624, Democritus Junior [pseudonym; Robert Burton], The Anatomy of Melancholy: […], 2nd edition, Oxford, Oxfordshire: […] John Lichfield and James Short, for Henry Cripps, →OCLC:


hangman

en-noun

hangman (countable and uncountable, plural hangmen)

From Middle English hangman, hongman, hangeman, equivalent to hang + -man.

One cried, "God bless us!" and "Amen" the other,
As they had seen me with these hangman's hands.

c. 1606 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Macbeth”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act II, scene ii]:

(countable) An executioner responsible for hanging criminals.


intentional

en-adj

intentional (comparative more intentional, superlative most intentional)

more intentional (comparative)
most intentional (superlative)

[ɪnˈtʰɛnʃn̩ɫ̩]

Borrowed from Medieval Latin intentiōnālis. By surface analysis, intention + -al.


bigamy

en-noun

bigamy (countable and uncountable, plural bigamies)

LL-Q1860 (eng)-I learned some phrases-bigamy.wav

From Middle English bigamie (“having two spouses simultaneously, bigamy; second marriage; marrying a widow or widower”) [and other forms], from Anglo-Norman bigamie and Middle French bigamie (“having two spouses simultaneously; second marriage; marrying a widow or widower”) (modern French bigamie (“bigamy”)), and its etymon Late Latin bigamia (“having two spouses simultaneously; second marriage”), from Late Latin, Latin bigamus (“bigamous”) + -ia (variant of -ius (suffix forming adjectives from nouns)). Bigamus is derived from bis (“twice, two times”) + Ancient Greek γάμος (gámos, “marriage; matrimony”) (from Proto-Indo-European *ǵem- (“to marry”)). The English word is analysable as bi- + -gamy.

der

Bigamie was a counterplea (deuiſed at yͤ Councell of Lyons, vpon mislike of ſecond marriage) to be obiected, when the priſoner demaundeth the benefite of the Clergie, to wit, his Book, as namely to ſay, that he which demaundeth the priuiledge of the Clergie, was married to ſuch a woman at ſuch a place, within ſuch a Dioceſſe, and that ſhee is dead, and that hee hath married another woman within the ſame Dioceſſe, or within ſome other Dioceſſe, and ſo is Bigamus.

1624, [John Rastell], “Bigamie”, in Les Termes de la Ley: Or, Certaine Difficult and Obscure VVords and Termes of the Common Lawes of This Realme Expounded. […], new edition, London: […] Company of Stationers, →OCLC, folio 45, recto and verso:

(ecclesiastical law, historical) A second marriage after the death of a spouse.


repugnant

en-adj

repugnant (comparative more repugnant, superlative most repugnant)

more repugnant (comparative)
most repugnant (superlative)

/ɹɪˈpʌɡnənt/

From Middle English repugnaunt, from Old French repugnant, borrowed from Latin repugnans, present participle of repugnare (“to oppose, to fight against”), from re- (“back, against”) + pugnare (“to fight”); see pugnacious.

a repugnant condition


court fee

(law) A fee paid purportedly to cover administrative costs, at the start of each new court filing.


suborn

en-verb

suborn (third-person singular simple present suborns, present participle suborning, simple past and past participle suborned)

suborns (present singular third-person)
suborning (participle present)
suborned (participle past)
suborned (past)
suborn (infinitive)

PIE word
 *upó
Borrowed from Anglo-Norman suburner, subhorner, and Middle French suborner, subourner (“to induce (someone) to commit a crime (specifically perjury) or wrongdoing”) (modern French suborner (“to suborn; to bribe”)), and from its etymon Latin subōrnāre, the present active infinitive of subōrnō (“to incite, instigate, suborn; to instruct one for a secret purpose; to adorn, dress; to equip, furnish, provide; to make one appear as (something)”), from sub- (prefix meaning ‘under’) + ōrnō (“to equip, furnish, provide; to adorn, decorate, ornament”) (ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *h₂er- (“to put together, fit; to fix; to slot”)).
cognates
* Catalan subornar
* Italian subornare
* Old Occitan subornar, sobornar
* Portuguese subornar
* Spanish subornar (obsolete), sobornar

yllyttää

to induce (someone) to commit an unlawful or malicious act, especially in a corrupt manner

[Y]ou shall finde their tongues chayned to another mans trencher, and as it were, Knights of the Post, suborned to say, sweare and stare the uttermost they can, as those that passe not what they say, nor with what face they say it, so they say no truth.

1596 (date written; published 1633), Edmund Spenser, A Vewe of the Present State of Irelande […], Dublin: […] Societie of Stationers, […], →OCLC; republished as A View of the State of Ireland […] (Ancient Irish Histories), Dublin: […] Society of Stationers, […] Hibernia Press, […] [b]y John Morrison, 1809, →OCLC, page 169:

By heauen (fond vvretch) yͧ knovvſt not vvhat thou ſpeak'ſt, / Or elſe thou art ſuborn'd againſt his honor / In hatefull practiſe: […]

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], page 80, column 2:

Thou that bribeſt a corrupt Officer, ſuborneſt a perjured vvitneſs, procureſt a packt Jury, […] couldſt thou be patient thy ſelf to be vvreſted out of thy ovvn apparent right by ſuch engines?

1634, Robert Sanderson, “[Ad Magistratum.] The Third Sermon. At the Assises at Nottingham in the Year 1634. at the Request of Robert Mellish Esq; then High-Sheriff of that County.”, in XXXIV Sermons. […], 5th edition, London: […] [A. Clark] for A. Seil, and are to be sold by G. Sawbridge, […], published 1671, →OCLC, paragraph 22, page 290:

[I]n the heat of their quarrel there came in a witness suborned by some of Mariamne's enemies, who accused her to the king [Herod the Great] of a design to poison him.

1711 September 26 (Gregorian calendar), [Joseph Addison], “SATURDAY, September 15, 1711”, in The Spectator, number 171; republished in Alexander Chalmers, editor, The Spectator; a New Edition, […], volume II, New York, N.Y.: D[aniel] Appleton & Company, 1853, →OCLC, page 391:

[A]n attempt to suborn a person to commit perjury, upon a reference to the judges, was unanimously holden by them to be a misdemeanor.

1819, W[illia]m Oldnall Russell, “Of Indictable Offences”, in A Treatise on Crimes and Misdemeanors. […], volume I, London, Dublin: […] [J. & T. Clarke] for Joseph Butterworth and Son, […]; and J. Cooke, […], →OCLC, book I, page 63:

Boethius, again, says that the Gothic courtiers hated him, and suborned branded scoundrels to swear away his life and that of the senate, because he had opposed 'the hounds of the palace,' Amigast, Trigulla, and other greedy barbarians.

1864, Charles Kingsley, “Lecture V. Dietrich’s End.”, in The Roman and the Teuton: A Series of Lectures Delivered before the University of Cambridge, Cambridge, Cambridgeshire, London: Macmillan and Co., →OCLC, page 146:

(also figuratively) To induce (someone) to commit an unlawful or malicious act, especially in a corrupt manner.

(specifically, criminal law) To induce (someone, such as a witness) to commit perjury, for example by making a false accusation or giving false evidence.

yllyttää väärään valaan

to induce (someone, such as a witness) to commit perjury


obscene

en-adj

obscene (comparative obscener or more obscene, superlative obscenest or most obscene)

obscener (comparative)
more obscene (comparative)
obscenest (superlative)
most obscene (superlative)

From Middle French obscene (modern French obscène (“indecent, obscene”)), and from its etymon Latin obscēnus, obscaenus (“inauspicious; ominous; disgusting, filthy; offensive, repulsive; indecent, lewd, obscene”). The further etymology is uncertain, but may be from ob- (prefix meaning ‘towards’) + caenum (“dirt, filth; mire, mud”) (possibly ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *ḱweyn- (“to make dirty, soil; filth; mud”)) or scaevus (“left, on the left side; clumsy; (figurative) unlucky”) (from Proto-Indo-European *skeh₂iwo-).

der

For the purposes of this Act an article shall be deemed to be obscene if its effect or (where the article comprises two or more distinct items) the effect of any one of its items is, if taken as a whole, such as to tend to deprave and corrupt persons who are likely, having regard to all relevant circumstances, to read, see or hear the matter contained or embodied in it.

1959 August 29, Obscene Publications Act 1959 (7 & 8 Eliz. II, chapter 66), London: Her Majesty’s Stationery Office, →OCLC, archived from the original on 2020-08-04, section 1(1):

The tract was far more political and religious than sexual, but Cockburn [Sir Alexander Cockburn, 12th Baronet] found it obscene because it would suggest to young persons (of either sex) "impure and libidinous" thoughts.

2006, Philip A. Dynia, “Obscenity”, in edited by Paul Finkelman, Encyclopedia of American Civil Liberties, volumes 2 (G–Q), New York, N.Y., Abingdon, Oxfordshire: Routledge, →ISBN, page 1116, column 1:

The principle that obscene material must have more serious effects than arousing feelings of revulsion leads to the doctrine that material that in fact shocks and disgusts may not be obscene, since its effect is to discourage readers from indulgence in the immorality so unappetizingly portrayed.

2009, Andrea Millwood Hargrave, Sonia M. Livingstone, “Annex II: The Legal Framework of English Law Regulating Media Content”, in Harm and Offence in Media Content: A Review of the Evidence, 2nd edition, Fishponds, Bristol, Chicago, Ill.: Intellect Books, →ISBN, pages 282–283:

An article is not obscene simply because it is repulsive or filthy. The prosecution must prove that its tendency is strong enough actually to deprave and corrupt a significant proportion of its likely audience; in other words, to pervert or corrupt their morals sufficiently for it to constitute a public menace. [...] Anything tending to deprave or corrupt may be obscene, including material encouraging the taking of dangerous drugs or glorifying violence, particularly if it is expressly targeted at children or adolescents.

2016, Hugh Jones, Christopher Benson, “Defamation and Other Risks”, in Publishing Law, 5th edition, Abingdon, Oxfordshire, New York, N.Y.: Routledge, →ISBN, part IV (Publish and Be Damned), page 228:

(chiefly British, criminal law) Liable to corrupt or deprave.


intervenor

One who intervenes, especially in a legal sense.


interlocutor

The agent noun counterpart, via suffix -tor, of Latin interloquor (“speak between, issue an interlocutory decree”), from inter- + loquor (“speak”).

uder

(law) An interlocutory judgement or sentence.


interlocutor

From French interlocutoire, from Latin interlocūtōrium.

A decree of the English Court of Chancery is not entitled to more respect in Scotland than a decree (interlocutor) of the Scottish Court of Session in England.

1869, “The Judicial System of Scotland”, in The American Law Register (1852-1891), volume 17, number 5, page 257:


assassin

en-verb

assassin (third-person singular simple present assassins, present participle assassining, simple past and past participle assassined)

assassins (present singular third-person)
assassining (participle present)
assassined (participle past)
assassined (past)

Assassin (disambiguation)
Nicolas Bourbaki

From either French assassin or Italian assassino, from Arabic أَسَاسِيِّين (ʔasāsiyyīn, “people who are faithful to the foundation [of the faith]”) and the folkloric etymology Arabic حَشَّاشِين (ḥaššāšīn, “hashish users; low-lives”).
The mathematical sense was introduced by Bourbaki, playing on the notation operatorname Ass(M) and the fact that an associated prime is the annihilator of an element, and so is said to kill that element.

der

أَسَاسِيِّين

people who are faithful to the foundation 􂀿of the faith􂁀


guilty

en-adj

guilty (comparative guiltier or more guilty, superlative guiltiest or most guilty)

guiltier (comparative)
more guilty (comparative)
guiltiest (superlative)
most guilty (superlative)

From Middle English gilty, gulty, from Old English gyltiġ (“offending, guilty”); equivalent to guilt + -y.

inh

The guilty man was led away.


guilty

(law) A plea by a defendant who does not contest a charge.

(law) A verdict of a judge or jury on a defendant judged to have committed a crime.


convey

en-verb

convey (third-person singular simple present conveys, present participle conveying, simple past and past participle conveyed)

conveys (present singular third-person)
conveying (participle present)
conveyed (participle past)
conveyed (past)

From Middle English conveien, from Old French conveier (French convoyer), from Vulgar Latin *convio, from Classical Latin via (“way”). Compare convoy.

accompany

to take someone from one place to another

He conveyed ownership of the company to his daughter.

[…] before his breaking forth into open rebellion, [the Earle of Desmond] had conveyed secretly all his lands to feoffees of trust, in hope to have cut off her Maiestie from the escheate of his lands.

1596 (date written; published 1633), Edmund Spenser, A Vewe of the Present State of Irelande […], Dublin: […] Societie of Stationers, […], →OCLC; republished as A View of the State of Ireland […] (Ancient Irish Histories), Dublin: […] Society of Stationers, […] Hibernia Press, […] [b]y John Morrison, 1809, →OCLC:


res nullius

From Latin rēs nūllīus (“nobody's thing”).

(law) Something that has no owner and is not subject to the jurisdiction of any state, but is susceptible to national appropriation.


assign

assign (third-person singular simple present assigns, present participle assigning, simple past and past participle assigned)

assigns (present singular third-person)
assigning (participle present)
assigned (participle past)
assigned (past)

Etymology tree
Proto-Indo-European *h₂éd
Proto-Italic *ad
Latin ad
Latin ad-
Proto-Indo-European *sek-der.
Proto-Italic *seknom
Latin signum
Proto-Indo-European *-éh₂
Proto-Indo-European *-yéti
Proto-Indo-European *-eh₂yéti
Proto-Italic *-āō
Latin -ō
Latin signō
Latin assignōlbor.
Old French assignerbor.
Middle English assignen
English assign
From Middle English assignen, from Old French assigner, asigner, from Latin assignō, from ad- + signō (“mark, sign”).

luokittaa

to attribute or sort something into categories

(transitive, law) To transfer (property, a legal right, etc.) from one person to another.

приписвам

to transfer property, a legal right, etc., from one person to another


warder

1595, Samuel Daniel, Civil Wars, in The Poetical Works of Mr. Samuel Daniel, Volume II, London: R. Gosling, 1718, Book I, stanza 62, p. 25,
When, lo! the king chang’d suddenly his Mind,
Casts down his Warder to arrest them there;

Stay, the king hath thrown his warder down.

1595 December 9 (first known performance), William Shakespeare, “The life and death of King Richard the Second”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies: Published According to the True Originall Copies (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act I, scene 3]:

If thou doſt not inſtantly comply with theſe juſt demands, he defies thee to ſingle combat to the laſt extremity. And ſo ſaying, the Herald caſt down his warder.

1764 December 24 (indicated as 1765), Onuphrio Muralto, translated by William Marshal [pseudonyms; Horace Walpole], chapter III, in The Castle of Otranto, […], London: […] Tho[mas] Lownds […], →OCLC, page 91:

(archaic) A truncheon or staff carried by a king or commander, used to signal commands.


infancy

en-noun

infancy (countable and uncountable, plural infancies)

From Middle English infancie, from Latin īnfantia (“infancy, early childhood; childishness”), equivalent to infant + -cy.


warrant officer

en-noun

warrant officer (plural warrant officers)

The bailiff does not like to see himself as the brutal oppressor of the poor or as the agent of malicious creditors... This distinction between warrant officer and process server is not at all dissimilar to the gulf that divides the law officer and the peace officer in the police force... Warrant officers execute warrants whilst process servers distribute court summonses and cajole debtors.

1973, Paul Rock, Making People Pay, page 162:

(law enforcement) An officer assigned to execute warrants and other writs.


infraction

/ɪnˈfɹækʃən/

From Middle French infraction, from Latin infractio, from infractum, past participle of infringere, from in (“in”) + frangere (“to break”).

Even stealing a pack of gum is an infraction in the eyes of the law.


syllabus

Borrowed from Medieval Latin syllabus (“list”), which arose as a misprint, its accusative plural syllabos appearing in place of sittybas in a 1470s edition of Cicero's “Ad Atticum” IV.5 and 8. The corrupt form was influenced by the stem of Ancient Greek συλλαμβάνω (sullambánō, “put together”), the source of σῠλλᾰβή (sullabḗ, “syllable”); the true etymon is σιττύβα (sittúba, “parchment label, table of contents”) of unknown origin.

der

(law) The headnote of a reported case; the brief statement of the points of law determined prefixed to a reported case.


plagiarize

en-verb

plagiarize (third-person singular simple present plagiarizes, present participle plagiarizing, simple past and past participle plagiarized)

plagiarizes (present singular third-person)
plagiarizing (participle present)
plagiarized (participle past)
plagiarized (past)

From plagiary + -ize, ultimately from Latin plagiare (“to kidnap, to abduct”).

(transitive, intransitive) To use, and pass off as one's own, someone else's writing, speech, ideas, or other intellectual or creative work, especially in an academic context; to commit plagiarism.

اِنْتَحَلَ

use, and pass off as one's own, someone else's writing/speech


remission

en-noun

remission (countable and uncountable, plural remissions)

/ɹɪˈmɪʃ(ə)n/

/ɹəˈmɪʃ(ə)n/

From Middle English remissioun (“release from duty; freeing of captives; mercy, pardon, respite; forgiveness; release from or reduction of penances; reduction in intensity (of a quality, symptom, etc.); transfer of property, quitclaim; legal opinion or submission; reference, cross-reference”) [and other forms], from Anglo-Norman remission, remissione, remissioun, remissiun and Middle French, Old French remission (“forgiveness of sin; pardoning of an offence; postponement; cessation, suspension; diminishing or weakening of something; reduction of debt; reduction in intensity of a disease or symptom”) (modern French rémission), and their etymon Late Latin remissiō (“forgiveness; pardon of sins”), Latin remissiō (“release; sending back; easing off, relaxing, softening; reduction of debt; reduction in intensity of a disease or symptom”), from remittō (“to remit, send back; to diminish; to relax; to do without, forego”) + -siō. Remittō is derived from re- (prefix meaning ‘back, backwards’) + mittō (“to cause to go; to send; to discharge, emit, let go, release; to throw; to extend, reach out; to announce, tell; to produce, yield; to attend, escort, guide; to dismiss, disregard; to end”) (possibly ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *meyth₂- (“to change, exchange; to change places, go past”) or *(s)meyt- (“to throw”)).
The English word is cognate with Catalan remissió, Italian remissioni, remissione (“remission; withdrawal of legal action; compliance, submission”), Old Occitan remessió, Portuguese remisson, remissão (“pardon; remission”), Spanish remisión (“remission”).

nb...

remiscioun, remisiun, remission, remissiun, remissyon, remyscioun, remyscyon, remyscyoun, remyssion, remyssioun, remyssyon, remyssyoun, remyssyoune

Zurücksendung

That Mr. Carstairs answer all interrogatories that shall be put to him, betwixt and the first of October next, upon his great oath. That which being done, he shall have his majesty's full pardon and remission, for his life, limb, estate, and fame.

1684, “314. The Trial of Robert Baillie, of Jerviswood, in Scotland, for High Treason: 36 Charles II. a.d. 1684”, in Cobbett’s Complete Collection of State Trials and Proceedings for High Treason and Other Crimes and Misdemeanors from the Earliest Period to the Present Time, volumes X (A.D. 1680–1685), London: Printed by T[homas] C[urson] Hansard, […]; for Longman, Hurst, Rees, Orme, & Co.; [et al.], published 1811, →OCLC, column 693:

At common law, the criminal was bound to assyth the party whom he had injured; no special statute was necessary to establish a point received and understood; but a doubt might be entertained, how far crimes were not entirely abolished by a remission, so as not only to stop the punishment of the law, but to exclude the claim of damages. To obviate this doubt was the intention of these various statutes, which provide that assythment shall be due, notwithstanding a remission.

1767 February 24, William Maxwell Morison, “[Proof.] Macharg against Campbell.”, in The Decisions of the Court of Session, from Its Institution until the Separation of the Court into Two Divisions in the Year 1808, Digested under Proper Heads, in the Form of a Dictionary. […], volumes XXIX–XXX, Edinburgh: Printed for Archibald Constable and Company, published 1811, →OCLC, division III (Public Instrument, How Far Probative), section IV (Decrees, Acts of Court, &c.), case no. 429, page 12543:

A lessening of amount due, as in either money or work, or intensity of a thing.

(law) A reduction or cancellation of the penalty for a criminal offence; in particular, the reduction of a prison sentence as a recognition of the prisoner's good behaviour.

смекчаване

It was held by the Court of Errors and Appeals that the remission of the case to the trial court for clarification of the verdict was justified, and that the record, as corrected, clearly indicated that the recommendation of life imprisonment should apply only to Rannelli and not to Merra.

1953 October term, Silvio DeVita, Petitioner, vs. the State of New Jersey, Respondent. […] Brief for the State of New Jersey Oppositing Petition for Writ of Certiorari (Supreme Court of the United States; no. 429), Newark, N.J.: Arthur W. Cross, page 9:

An act of remitting, returning, or sending back.

(law) A referral of a case back to another (especially a lower or inferior) court of law; a remand, a remittal.

siirtäminen

referral of a case back to another court


warden

→ Welsh: warden, gwarden

From Middle English wardein, from Anglo-Norman wardein, from warder (“to guard”), variant of Old French guarder (“to guard”) (whence modern French garder, also English guard), from Proto-Germanic *ward-; related to Old High German wartēn (“to watch”). Compare guardian, French gardien, from Old French guardian, guardein. Compare also ward and reward. Doublet of guardian.

An official charged with supervisory duties or with the enforcement of specific laws or regulations; such as a game warden or air-raid warden.

nəzarətçi

an official charged with supervisory duties


guilt

en-noun

guilt (usually uncountable, plural guilts)

From Middle English gilt, gult, from Old English gylt (“guilt, sin, offense, crime, fault”), of obscure origin, but possibly related with Old English ġieldan (“to pay, requite, punish”), whence yield. More specifically it could be connected with Proto-West Germanic *guldijā, whence Middle Low German gülde, Middle High German gülte (“debt, fee, financial duty”). However, neither the Old English stem form nor the -t (instead of -d) fit the continental form.

cog

(law) The state of having been found guilty or admitted guilt in legal proceedings.


IR

en-noun

IR (countable and uncountable, plural IRs)

(law enforcement) Initialism of incident report.


disorderly

en-adj

disorderly (comparative more disorderly, superlative most disorderly)

more disorderly (comparative)
most disorderly (superlative)

From disorder + -ly or from dis- + orderly.

a disorderly house

(law) Offensive to good morals and public decency.


litigant

From French litigant, from Middle French, from Latin litigans, litigantis.

(law) A party suing or being sued in a lawsuit, or otherwise calling upon the judicial process to determine the outcome of a suit.

訴訟當事人

a party suing or being sued in a lawsuit


sheriff

From Middle English shirreve, from Old English sċīrġerēfa, corresponding to shire + reeve. There is no etymological connection to Sharif (شَرِيف (šarīf)), an Arabic title of honour that has cognates in other languages including Hindi, Urdu, Portuguese, etc.

(US) A government official, usually responsible for law enforcement in their county and for administration of the county jail, sometimes an officer of the court, usually elected.


overturn

en-verb

overturn (third-person singular simple present overturns, present participle overturning, simple past and past participle overturned)

overturns (present singular third-person)
overturning (participle present)
overturned (participle past)
overturned (past)

/ˌəʊvə(ɹ)ˈtɜː(ɹ)n/

/ˈəʊvə(ɹ)ˌtɜː(ɹ)n/

From Middle English overturnen, equivalent to over- + turn. Compare also Middle English overterven (“to overturn”), see terve.

cog

In a report for the Sun on Sunday, Barak claimed that Andrew is consulting lawyers about overturning that settlement.

2023 January 22, Matthew Weaver, “Ghislaine Maxwell calls Prince Andrew photo with Virginia Giuffre ‘a fake’”, in The Guardian:

Harvey was rightfully convicted. It’s unfortunate that the court has overturned his conviction. As a survivor, I am beyond disappointed.

2024 April 27, Maya Yang, quoting Rosanna Arquette, “Disgraced former Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein hospitalized”, in The Observer, →ISSN:

(law, transitive) To reverse (a decision); to overrule or rescind.


gangbang

(US, slang) An act of a street gang committing crimes as a group, such as attacking random people on the streets.


pullover

→ Catalan: pul·lòver

→ Danish: pullover

→ Esperanto: pulovero

→ French: pull-over

→ Gulf Arabic: بلوڤر (blōvar)

→ German: Pullover

→ Hungarian: pulóver

→ Greek: πουλόβερ (poulóver)

→ Italian: pullover

→ Japanese: プルオーバー (puruōbā)

→ Georgian: პულოვერი (ṗuloveri)

→ Korean: 풀오버 (purobeo)

→ Polish: pulower

→ Portuguese: pulôver

→ Russian: пуло́вер (pulóver)

→ Sicilian: pullover

→ Spanish: pulóver

→ Swedish: pullover

I followed my training in the academy regarding vehicle pullovers.

2010, D. E. Gray, The Warrior in Me, page 23:

(chiefly law enforcement) An instance of a vehicle being pulled over.


mob

From Middle English mob, short for mobile, from Latin mōbile (vulgus) (“fickle (crowd)”). The video-gaming sense originates from English mobile, used by Richard Bartle for objects capable of movement in an early MUD.

der

The Bat—they called him the Bat.[…]. He'd never been in stir, the bulls had never mugged him, he didn't run with a mob, he played a lone hand, and fenced his stuff so that even the fence couldn't swear he knew his face.

1920, Mary Roberts Rinehart, Avery Hopwood, chapter I, in The Bat: A Novel from the Play (Dell Book; 241), New York, N.Y.: Dell Publishing Company, →OCLC, page 01:

What if it is a mob killing? They can’t hurt me, but …

1986, Paul Chadwick, Concrete: Under the Desert Stars, Dark Horse Books:

See also: Mob, Mafia (proper noun senses for specific ones)

A mafia: a group that engages in organized crime.


gerrymander

en-verb

gerrymander (third-person singular simple present gerrymanders, present participle gerrymandering, simple past and past participle gerrymandered)

Elkanah Tisdale
Nathan Hale (journalist)
gerrymandering

gerrymanders (present singular third-person)
gerrymandering (participle present)
gerrymandered (participle past)
gerrymandered (past)

/ˈdʒɛɹiˌmændə/

/ˈd͡ʒɛɹiˌmændɚ/

Blend of Gerry + salamander (named after Elbridge Gerry), from the similarity in shape to a salamander of an electoral district created when Gerry was the governor of Massachusetts. Coined by editors of the Boston Gazette 26 March 1812, in text likely written by Nathan Hale and Benjamin and John Russell, and accompanying a cartoon by Elkanah Tisdale.

coin

Westminster City Council has been accused by the District Auditor of using public money to gerrymander marginal wards for the 1990 Borough elections. The strategy of attempting to 'gentrify' eight key wards, selling off council homes and hostels for the homeless to move out potential Labour voters and attract in more Conservative voters, was in conflict with the council's statutory duty to homeless people

2000, Hugo de Burgh, Investigative Journalism: Context and Practice, Psychology Press, →ISBN, page 207:

Fermanagh Council even went so far as to create the new village of Donagh in an attempt to move Catholics out of Newtownbutler, four miles away, so unionists could gerrymander a majority.

2022 December 1, Trevor Birney, Quinn, Merrion Press, →ISBN:

(transitive, derogatory, by extension, chiefly UK and Ireland) To deliberately bring in voters of one's own party or displace voters of another party from a voting district in such a way as to give an unfair advantage to one party in an election.


gerrymander

/ˈdʒɛɹiˌmændə/

/ˈd͡ʒɛɹiˌmændɚ/

Elkanah Tisdale
Nathan Hale (journalist)

Any citizen looking at a map of district 12 could immediately tell that it was a gerrymander because of the ridiculous way it cut across 4 counties while carving up neighborhoods in half.

(derogatory) A voting district skewed by gerrymandering.

manipulált választókerület (határú)

a voting district skewed by gerrymandering


settlement

en-noun

settlement (countable and uncountable, plural settlements)

(law) A disposition of property, or the act of granting it.

(law) A settled place of abode; residence; a right growing out of legal residence.

The family of a^([sic]) Ohio teenager who was crushed to death by the seat of a minivan after emergency responders failed to find him in time has been awarded a $6million settlement […] As part of the settlement, the city has pledged to improve its 911 call centre […]

2021 April 11, A. Hutton, “Kyle Plush: $6million settlement for family of Ohio teen who was crushed to death in 2018”, in The Independent:

(law) A mutual agreement to end a dispute without resorting to legal proceedings, also known as an out-of-court settlement or settling out of court.


graduated

(taxation) Increasing in rate with the taxable base.


exception

exception (countable and uncountable, plural exceptions)

From Middle English exception, excepcioun, from Anglo-Norman excepcioun, from Old French excepcion, from Latin exceptiō.

përjashtim

that which is excepted or taken out from others

(law) An objection, on legal grounds; also, as in conveyancing, a clause by which the grantor excepts or reserves something before the right is transferred.


nullius filius

Borrowed from Medieval Latin nullius filius (“nobody's son”), from Latin nullius + filius.

bor

A bastard is considered nullius filius as far as regards his right inherit. But the rule of nullius filius does not apply in other respects

1856, Bouvier Law Dictionary, 6th edition:


impunity

en-noun

impunity (countable and uncountable, plural impunities)

From Middle French impunité, from Latin impunitas, from impunis (“without punishment”).

(countable, law) Exemption from punishment.


Easter

Easter (countable and uncountable, plural Easters)

→ Chickasaw: Iista'

The noun is derived from Middle English Ester, from Old English ēastre, seemingly from Ēastre, a proposed Anglo-Saxon goddess of the dawn whose festival is thought to have been celebrated around the vernal equinox. Further from Proto-West Germanic *Austrā, from Proto-Germanic *Austrǭ, derived from either Proto-Indo-European *h₂ews- (“dawn; east”) or, more semantically plausible, from *austrą, *auzrą, a metathesized form of *wazrą (“spring (season)”), *-ǭ, from Proto-Indo-European *wósr̥ (“spring”).
The English word is cognate with German Low German Oostern (“Easter”), Old High German ōstarūn (modern German Ostern) and is possibly a doublet of east. Despite a modern folk etymology, not related to Ishtar.
The verb is derived from the noun.

der

(UK, Ireland, law, education) Ellipsis of Easter term.


killing

en-adj

killing (comparative more killing, superlative most killing)

more killing (comparative)
most killing (superlative)

From Middle English kyllyng; equivalent to kill + -ing.

That literally deprives of life; lethal, deadly, fatal.


certify

en-verb

certify (third-person singular simple present certifies, present participle certifying, simple past and past participle certified)

certifies (present singular third-person)
certifying (participle present)
certified (participle past)
certified (past)

From Old French certefier (“confirm, assure, make certain”). Compare French certifier.

uder

(transitive, law) To authenticate or verify in writing.


antimiscegenation

antimiscegenation laws

(US, law) Against mixing or blending; especially, against the mixing or blending of races in marriage or breeding.

antimiscigenação

against mixing or blending; especially, against the mixing or blending of races in marriage or breeding


wetting

Earned my name name for all of them wettings
If I let you live, then give blessings

2018 August 25, (1011) Eleven X (Splash) Russ X Taze, here Taze (lyrics and music), “Anti”, 3:01–3:05:

(US, MLE, slang) An act of murdering or seriously injuring someone.


hoosegow

From informal spoken Spanish juzgao, variant of standard Spanish juzgado (“court, courthouse”). Alteration of pronunciation and spelling by law of Hobson-Jobson.

There's parts of Mexico they'd take you straight to the hoosegow for just whistlin that.

2006, Thomas Pynchon, Against the Day, Vintage, published 2007, page 424:

Philip Zimbardo set up a mock prison in the basement of the Stanford psychology department, divided the participants at random into ‘prisoners’ and ‘guards,’ and even got the Palo Alto police to arrest the prisoners and haul them to the campus hoosegow.

2011, Steven Pinker, The Better Angels of Our Nature, Penguin, published 2012, page 674:


jurat

From Medieval Latin iūrātus (“sworn [man]”) or iūrātum (“[that which is] sworn”), from Latin iūrō (“I swear an oath”). As a medieval office, via French jurat, via Occitan juré.

The affidavit's jurat reads "Sworn this __ day of ________, 20__, before me" and is followed by the notary's signature. Looks like she forgot to fill it in.

(law) A sworn statement concerning where, when, and before whom an oath has been made.

(law, obsolete) A sworn person, particularly:

(law, historical) A medieval informant: a man sworn to provide information about crimes committed in his neighborhood.

A councilman or alderman of the Cinque Ports.

Guernsey and Jersey have twelve jurats each, and Alderney six.

The Jurat came of a good old Guernsey family which, in the Middle Ages, always had the sense to fight on the side paid best [...].

1974, GB Edwards, The Book of Ebenezer Le Page, New York, published 2007, page 179:

A magistrate of Channel Islands, serving for life, who forms part of the islands' royal court.

(historical) A municipal officer of Bordeaux and certain other French towns.

(historical, in French contexts) A member of any association sworn to do nothing against its internal rules.


whipped cream

en-noun

whipped cream (usually uncountable, plural whipped creams)

The standard of identity comes from 21 CFR 131.25.

հարած սերուցք

thick cream that has had air incorporated into it by rapid beating

standards of identity
standard of identity

Thick cream that has had air incorporated into it by rapid beating.

(US standards of identity) Cream, at least 30% of which is milkfat, possibly also containing emulsifiers and/or stabilizers but nothing else, which is then whipped.


backup

→ Danish: backup

→ Italian: backup

→ Japanese: バックアップ (bakkuappu)

→ Korean: 백업 (baegeop)

→ Portuguese: backup, becape

→ Swedish: backup

He's got a gun! You'd better send for backup.

Shaman: My patience is tested, but Uvenk invokes correctly. Grunt, who is your krantt? Your allies willing to kill and die on your behalf?
Shepard: How is a candidate tested if he brings backup on his Rite of Passage?
Shaman: Not every krogan can be the strongest warrior, but each must inspire his peers to battle at his side.
Shaman: If the ones who know you best can find nothing worthy in you, you should wander the wastes and die alone before you weaken my clan.

2010, BioWare, Mass Effect 2 (Science Fiction), Redwood City: Electronic Arts, →OCLC, PC, scene: Tuchanka:


contraband

contraband (usually uncountable, plural contrabands)

From Spanish contrabanda (modern spelling contrabando), from Italian contrabando (modern spelling contrabbando), from contra (“against”) + bando (“ban”), and reinforced by French contrebande.

(uncountable) Any goods which are illicit or illegal to possess.

While some Yanks treated contrabands with a degree of equity or benevolence, the more typical response was indifference, contempt, or cruelty.

1988, James McPherson, Battle Cry of Freedom, Oxford, published 2003, page 497:

(countable, US, historical) A black slave during the American Civil War who had escaped to, or been captured by, Union forces.


contraband

en-verb

contraband (third-person singular simple present contrabands, present participle contrabanding, simple past and past participle contrabanded)

contrabands (present singular third-person)
contrabanding (participle present)
contrabanded (participle past)
contrabanded (past)

there are also searched for concealed Slaves, and goods contrabanded

1615, George Sandys, “The Second Booke”, in The Relation of a Iourney Begun An: Dom: 1610. […], London: […] [Richard Field] for W. Barrett, →OCLC, page 87:

(obsolete) To import illegally; to smuggle.

The law severely contrabands / Our taking business off men's hands.

1662 (indicated as 1663), [Samuel Butler], “[The First Part of Hudibras]”, in Hudibras. The First and Second Parts. […], London: […] John Martyn and Henry Herringman, […], published 1678; republished in A[lfred] R[ayney] Waller, editor, Hudibras: Written in the Time of the Late Wars, Cambridge, Cambridgeshire: University Press, 1905, →OCLC:

(obsolete) To declare prohibited; to forbid.


recognition

en-noun

recognition (usually uncountable, plural recognitions)

/ˌɹɛkəɡˈnɪʃən/

From Latin recognitionem (accusative of recognitio), from stem recognit, past participle of recognoscere.

(Scots law, historical) A return of the feu to the superior.


witness stand

(chiefly US) An enclosed area in a courtroom where witnesses give their evidence.


fraudulent

en-adj

fraudulent (comparative more fraudulent, superlative most fraudulent)

more fraudulent (comparative)
most fraudulent (superlative)

From Middle English fraudulent, from Old French fraudulent, from Latin fraudulentus, from fraus (“fraud”).

He tried to pass a fraudulent check.


witness box

The same dingy court room, […]; the royal arms above it [the bench] and the little witness box to one side, where so many honest poor people are bullied

1910, Henry Lawson, The Rising of the Court:

There's no lie Jenny Prask wouldn't tell to force Joan into the witness box.

1920, A. E. W. Mason, “chapter XXXI”, in The Summons:

(chiefly British) A witness stand in a courtroom.

證人席

place where a witness gives evidence in a courtroom


erstwhile

“Scarcely had Alice reached her twentieth birthday, than she gave her erstwhile fiancée^([sic]) his formal congé.[…]”

1904–1905, Baroness Orczy [i.e., Emma Orczy], “The Disappearance of Count Collini”, in The Case of Miss Elliott, London: T[homas] Fisher Unwin, published 1905, →OCLC; republished as popular edition, London: Greening & Co., 1909, OCLC 11192831, quoted in The Case of Miss Elliott (ebook no. 2000141h.html), Australia: Project Gutenberg of Australia, February 2020:

As an aftermath of the erstwhile competition between companies, 41 goods depots served the Liverpool and Birkenhead docks in 1923.

1964 November, P. F. Winding, “Re-shaping the LMR's North Western Line - 2”, in Modern Railways, page 343:

Other erstwhile stalwarts are also wavering. Southampton had two of the best full-backs in the league last season but Ryan Bertrand has been below par this season and Cédric Soares made an uncharacteristic lapse that led to Stoke’s winning goal in Southampton’s last outing.

2017 October 14, Paul Doyle, “Mauricio Pellegrino yet to find attacking solution for stuttering Southampton”, in the Guardian:

(literary, law or India) Former, previous.


grounds

grounds for divorce

(law) Basis or justification for something.


behind bars

There is one kind of prison where the man is behind bars, and everything that he desires is outside; and there is another kind where the things are behind the bars, and the man is outside.

1905, Upton Sinclair, chapter XXVII, in The Jungle, New York, N.Y.: Doubleday, Page & Company, published 26 February 1906, →OCLC:

Some 460,000 Americans are behind bars for drug offenses.

2001 May 7, Margot Roosevelt et al., “The War Against The War On Drugs”, in Time:

Leading Jordanian exponents of the Salafi-jihadi world view, such as Abu Muhammad al-Maqdisi, are now behind bars or silent, fearing arrest by the powerful mukhabarat secret police.

2014 November 27, Ian Black, “Courts kept busy as Jordan works to crush support for Isis”, in The Guardian:

(figuratively, idiomatic) In jail, in prison.


fee simple

Sir, for a Cardceue he will ſell the fee-ſimple of his ſaluation, the inheritance of it, and cut th’ intaile from all remainders, and a perpetuall ſucceſsion for it perpetually.

c. 1604–1605 (date written), William Shakespeare, “All’s Well, that Ends Well”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act IV, scene iii], page 248, column 2:

It had never occurred to me that a parson has no fee-simple in the house and glebe he occupies.

1787, William Cowper, letter, 19 October

(law) The private ownership of property (real estate) in which the owner has the right to control, use, and transfer the property at will.

永久產權

The rights and privileges of private ownership of property particularly real estate

fee simple subject to condition subsequent

fee simple subject to executory interest

fee simple subject to executory limitation


docketing software

(computing, law) Software for use in scheduling legal matters, for example ex parte proceedings, litigation, and other legal matters.


certificate

→ Punjabi: ਸਰਟੀਫਿਕੇਟ (sarṭīphikeṭ)

→ Welsh: stifficet

General Certificate of Secondary Education

The film is certificate 15.

(British, Ireland) A motion picture age rating.


leasehold

term of years absolute
term of years absolute

(property law) Of an estate in land, held for a term of years absolute by a lessee or tenant.


leasehold

en-noun

leasehold (countable and uncountable, plural leaseholds)

(property law) Real property held as an estate in land of this type.


cruiser

(US, law enforcement) A police patrol vehicle.


memorial

From Late Latin memoriale, neuter of memorialis.

Captain Surman […] immediately addressed a memorial to the governor, stating that an act of Providence had sent him into port for the preservation of the lives of those on board; he therefore trusted he should be allowed to refit and depart.

1808–10, William Hickey, Memoirs of a Georgian Rake, Folio Society 1995, page 178:

(law) A statement of facts set out in the form of a petition to a person in authority, a court or tribunal, a government, etc.


irritate

en-verb

irritate (third-person singular simple present irritates, present participle irritating, simple past and past participle irritated)

irritates (present singular third-person)
irritating (participle present)
irritated (participle past)
irritated (past)

From Latin irritātus, past participle of irritō (“I invalidate, annul”), from irritus (“invalid”), negation of ratus (“valid, established, fixed”).

/ˈɪɹ.ɪˌteɪt/

c. 1634-1661 John Bramhall, Protestants' Ordination Defended
Are human laws presently superfluous, so often as they do not irritate or abrogate Divine laws ?

(transitive, obsolete, Scots law) To render null and void.


freehold

fee simple absolute in possession
fee simple absolute in possession

(property law) Of a tenure or estate in land, held in fee simple absolute in possession by a proprietor; granted out of the allodial title, liable to determine only on escheat.


freehold

en-noun

freehold (countable and uncountable, plural freeholds)

(property law) Real property held by a tenure of this type.


facility

facility (countable and uncountable, plural facilities)

From Middle French facilité, and its source, Latin facilitās. Doublet of faculty. Also see facile.

(Scots law) A condition of mental weakness less than idiocy, but enough to make a person easily persuaded to do something against their better interest.


workhouse

Among other public buildings in a certain town which for many reasons it will be prudent to refrain from mentioning, and to which I will assign no fictitious name, it boasts of one which is common to most towns, great or small, to wit, a workhouse; and in this workhouse was born, […] the item of mortality whose name is prefixed to the head of this chapter.

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

"I don't want to spoil any comparison you are going to make," said Jim, "but I was at Winchester and New College." / "That will do," said Mackenzie. "I was dragged up at the workhouse school till I was twelve.[…]"

1909, Archibald Marshall [pseudonym; Arthur Hammond Marshall], chapter II, in The Squire’s Daughter, New York, N.Y.: Dodd, Mead and Company, published 1919, →OCLC:

(British, historical) An institution for homeless poor people funded by the local parish, where the able-bodied were required to work.


walker

→ Irish: válcaeir

→ Persian: واکر (vâker)

From Middle English walkere (“one who walks, traveller”), equivalent to walk + -er.


usury

en-noun

usury (countable and uncountable, plural usuries)

From Middle English usurie, from Latin ūsūria, from ūsūra (“lending at interest, usury”) from ūsus (“use”), from stem of ūtī (“to use”). Compare usurp and use.

վաշխառություն

practice of lending money at illegal or unfair rates

Then will we march to all thoſe Indian Mines,
My witleſſe brother to the Chriſtians loſt:
And ranſome them with fame and vſurie.

c. 1587–1588, [Christopher Marlowe], Tamburlaine the Great. […] The First Part […], 2nd edition, part 1, London: […] [R. Robinson for] Richard Iones, […], published 1592, →OCLC; reprinted as Tamburlaine the Great (A Scolar Press Facsimile), Menston, Yorkshire, London: Scolar Press, 1973, →ISBN, Act II, scene v:


matter of fact

See matter, fact. First attested in the 16th century.

Whether he left his house on the night of the murder is a matter of fact.

(law) An issue concerning the factual circumstances of a cause of action that is to be tried or proved; an allegation forming the basis of a claim or defense, as opposed to a matter of law.


Lawrence

en-proper noun

Lawrence (countable and uncountable, plural Lawrences)

(US, law, sexuality, US politics, informal, uncountable) Ellipsis of Lawrence v. Texas. A 2003 U.S. Supreme Court ruling that legalized same-sex sexual relations; and reaffirmed the existence of a right to privacy under due process following the 14th Amendment.


sheepdog

(US, slang, law enforcement) A police officer.


wend

From Middle English wenden, from Old English wendan (“to turn, change, translate”), from Proto-West Germanic *wandijan, from Proto-Germanic *wandijaną (“to turn”), causative of *windaną (“to wind”), from Proto-Indo-European *wendʰ- (“to turn, wind, braid”).
Cognate with Dutch wenden (“to turn”), German wenden (“to turn, reverse”), Danish vende (“to turn”), Norwegian Bokmål vende (“to turn”), Norwegian Nynorsk venda (“to turn”), Swedish vända (“to turn, turn over, veer, direct”), Icelandic venda (“to wend, turn, change”), Gothic 𐍅𐌰𐌽𐌳𐌾𐌰𐌽 (wandjan, “to cause to turn”). Related to wind (Etymology 2).

cog

(obsolete, UK, law) A large extent of ground; a perambulation; a circuit


lapidate

en-verb

lapidate (third-person singular simple present lapidates, present participle lapidating, simple past and past participle lapidated)

lapidates (present singular third-person)
lapidating (participle present)
lapidated (participle past)
lapidated (past)

From Latin lapidātus, past participle of lapidō (“throw stones at”), from lapis (“stone”).

the host (in tailcoat, grey cravat, purple vest) is lapidated by his wife while he loudly cries: "Maggie—please save a cup fer coffee in the morning."

1932 February 1, “Jiggs & Maggie”, in Time Magazine:

On August 27, 2002, a Nigerian court ordered the mother of a newborn child, Amina Lawal, to be publicly lapidated for adultery.

(transitive, law) To throw stones or other objects at, as punishment, sometimes until death.


vested interest

en-noun

vested interest (plural vested interests)

Popularized in sociology by Thorstein Veblen, The Vested Interests and the Common Man (1919).

I saw them enjoying a special privilege which had been theirs so long that it had become a vested interest: they seemed to think it was a law ordained of nature that they should be forever life's favorite sons.

1940, Thomas Wolfe, chapter 46, in You Can't Go Home Again, →OCLC:

(law) An indefeasible right or title, distinguished from a contingent interest, which could be defeated (i.e. cease) if a certain event occurred.

Today, under compulsion of patriotic devotion, fear, shame and bitter need, and under the unprecedentedly shrewd surveillance of public officers bent on maximum production, the great essential industries controlled by the vested interests may, one with another, be considered to approach—perhaps even conceivably to exceed—a fifty-percent efficiency; […]

1920 [1919], Thorstein Veblen, The Vested Interests and the Common Man, New York: B. W. Huebsch, page 78:

But it was not a question of evidence, of guilt or innocence. Tom Mooney was bitterly hated by the vested interests of San Francisco. He had to be gotten out of the way.

1929, Alexander Berkman, chapter 8, in Now and After: The ABC of Communist Anarchism, New York: Vanguard Press, →OCLC:

On this point there was no difference between mercantilists and feudalists, between crowned planners and vested interests, between centralizing bureaucrats and conservative particularists.

1957 [1944], Karl Polanyi, chapter 6, in The Great Transformation, Beacon Press: Boston, page 70:

It should now be obvious to everyone that vested interests only change when they are forced to do so.

2019, Danny Burns, Cordula Reimann, “Movement Building”, in Extinction Rebellion, editor, This Is Not A Drill, London: Penguin, →ISBN:

She listed “Labour, the Lib Dems, the SNP, the militant unions, the vested interests, the talking heads, the Brexit deniers, Extinction Rebellion and some of the people we had in the hall earlier” as those who she thought were working against the interests of growth.

2022 October 5, Rowena Mason, quoting Liz Truss, “Liz Truss promises ‘growth, growth and growth’ in protest-hit speech”, in The Guardian:

(in the plural) A group of people or organizations with such a stake, especially those that seek to control an existing system or activity from which they derive benefit.

ذینفع

a group of people or organizations with such a stake


vested

en-adj

vested (comparative more vested, superlative most vested)

more vested (comparative)
most vested (superlative)

All legislative Powers herein granted shall be vested in a Congress of the United States, which shall consist of a Senate and House of Representatives.

(law) Settled, fixed or absolute, with no contingencies.


variance

en-noun

variance (countable and uncountable, plural variances)

From Middle English variance, variaunce, equivalent to vary + -ance, from Old French variance or directly from Anglo-Latin variaunce, veriaunce, wariaunce; all from Latin variantia.

(law) A discrepancy between two legal documents.

несъотве́тствие

discrepancy, especially between two legal documents

(law) A departure from a cause of action originally in a complaint.


duplicate

duplicate (countable and uncountable, plural duplicates)

PIE word
 *dwóh₁
Borrowed from Latin duplicātus, perfect passive participle of duplicō.

(law) An original instrument repeated; a document which is the same as another in all essential particulars, and differing from a mere copy in having all the validity of an original


vexatious

en-adj

vexatious (comparative more vexatious, superlative most vexatious)

more vexatious (comparative)
most vexatious (superlative)

a vexatious lawsuit

(law, of an action) Commenced for the purpose of giving trouble, without due cause.

a vexatious litigant

(law, of a party or entity) In the habit of starting vexatious litigation and therefore liable to have restraints placed on one's ability to access the courts.


ICC

International Criminal Court
International Criminal Court#English

(international law) Initialism of International Criminal Court.


writ

en-noun

writ (countable and uncountable, plural writs)

From Middle English writ, from Old English writ and ġewrit (“writing”), from Proto-Germanic *writą (“fissure, writing”), from Proto-Indo-European *wrey-, *wrī- (“to scratch, carve, ingrave”). Cognate with Scots writ (“writ, writing, handwriting”), Icelandic rit (“writing, writ, literary work, publication”).

cog

(law) A written order, issued by a court, ordering someone to do (or stop doing) something.


purloin

en-verb

purloin (third-person singular simple present purloins, present participle purloining, simple past and past participle purloined)

purloins (present singular third-person)
purloining (participle present)
purloined (participle past)
purloined (past)

From Middle English purloynen (“to remove”), borrowed from Anglo-Norman purloigner (“to put far away”), one of the variants of Old French porloignier. Doublet of prolong.

der

Had from his wakeful custody purloined / The guarded gold.

1667, John Milton, “Book II”, in Paradise Lost. […], London: […] [Samuel Simmons], and are to be sold by Peter Parker […]; [a]nd by Robert Boulter […]; [a]nd Matthias Walker, […], →OCLC; republished as Paradise Lost in Ten Books: […], London: Basil Montagu Pickering […], 1873, →OCLC:

Probably my acquaintance, Mr Blank, therefore, would have been able, if he had so wished to do, to purloin the papers which he mentioned.

1900, One Who Was in It, chapter 8, in Kruger's Secret Service, pages 168–169:

The refreshment room was full of chatter and babble, which attracted everybody's envious glances. Some one had left his set in the middle of the dance, purloined a sandwich from the buffet, and was now chewing away proudly as he swerved and stamped, to the amusement of the rest.

1916, chapter 4, in A. Cecil Curtis, transl., Royal Highness, translation of Königliche Hoheit by Thomas Mann:

Or was this simply another item Mr. Stink had purloined during his career as a gentleman thief?

2009 October 29, David Walliams [pseudonym; David Edward Williams], Mr Stink, London: HarperCollins Children’s Books, →ISBN:

(transitive, usually formal or humorous) To take the property of another, often in breach of trust; to appropriate wrongfully; to steal.


zero-rated

(chiefly British) Subject to no value-added tax when sold (but in which the supplier can still recover VAT attributable to it).


ultra vires

From Latin ultra vires (“beyond the power”).

Acts of the Scottish Parliament, unlike Westminster, can be challenged in court on the basis that they relate to reserved matters and are, therefore, ultra vires.

(law) beyond the legal power or authority of a person or body


remedy

From Middle English remedie, from Old French *remedie, remede, from Latin remedium (“a remedy, cure”), from re- (“again”) + mederi (“to heal”). Doublet of remeid.

(law) The legal means to recover a right or to prevent or obtain redress for a wrong.

сре́дство

суде́бной защи́ты


antisocial behaviour order

en-noun

antisocial behaviour order (plural antisocial behaviour orders)

(British, law) A civil order made against a person, as a result of persistent antisocial behaviour.


rejoinder

/ɹɪd͡ʒˈɔɪndɚ/

From Middle English rejoinder, rejonder, rejoynder, from Middle French rejoindre, with infinitive used as noun frequent in Law French. Doublet of rejoin.

(law) The defendant's answer to the replication.

(US patent law) Re-insertion, typically after allowance of a patent application, of patent claims that had been withdrawn from examination under a restriction requirement.


attribution

attribution (countable and uncountable, plural attributions)

From Middle French attribution, from Latin attributio.

(law) A legal doctrine by which liability is extended to a defendant who did not actually commit the tortious or criminal act.


capital punishment

capital punishment (countable and uncountable, plural capital punishments)

From the original meaning of capital (“relating to the head”); originally referring to executions by beheading or decapitating.

The practice of putting a person to death as a punishment for a crime.

dënim me vdekje

punishment by death — see also death penalty


assignee

From Middle English assigne, from Old French assigné, equivalent to assign + -ee.

(law) One to whom a right or property is being transferred.

وَكِيل

law: one to whom rights or property is being transferred


extradition

extradition (countable and uncountable, plural extraditions)

From French extradition, itself from Latin ex- + traditio.

A formal process by which a criminal suspect held by one government or jurisdiction is handed over to another government or jurisdiction for trial or, if the suspect has already been tried and found guilty, to serve his or her sentence.

ekstradim

process by which a criminal suspect is handed over to another government


assess

en-verb

assess (third-person singular simple present assesses, present participle assessing, simple past and past participle assessed)

assesses (present singular third-person)
assessing (participle present)
assessed (participle past)
assessed (past)

From Middle English assessen, from Old French assesser, from Medieval Latin assessare, originally the frequentative of Latin assessus, past participle of assidēre, from ad (“to, towards, at”) + sedeō (“sit; settle down”). Cognate with Spanish asentar (“to settle”).

Once you've submitted a tax return, the Tax Department will assess the amount of tax you still owe.

(transitive) To calculate and demand (the tax money due) from a person or entity.


administer

administer (third-person singular simple present administers, present participle administering, simple past and past participle administered)

administers (present singular third-person)
administering (participle present)
administered (participle past)
administered (past)

From Middle English administren, from Old French aminister, from Latin administrare (“to manage, execute”), from ad (“to”) + ministrare (“to attend, serve”), from minister (“servant”); see minister.

der

(law) To settle, as the estate of one who dies without a will, or whose will fails of an executor.


witness

en-noun

witness (countable and uncountable, plural witnesses)

From Middle English witnesse, from Old English ġewitnes, equivalent to wit + -ness. Cognate with Middle Dutch wetenisse (“witness, testimony”), Old High German gewiznessi (“testimony”), Icelandic vitni (“witness”).

cog

The witness for the prosecution did not seem very credible.

From the evidence of witnesses and of the recorded passing times, including the time at which the circuit breakers were tripped when the wires were brought down, the train was travelling at a speed of not less than 70 m.p.h.

1961 November, “Talking of Trains: Derailment near Holmes Chapel”, in Trains Illustrated, page 652:

(countable, law) Someone called to give evidence in a court.

getuie

someone called to give evidence in a court

понята́я

someone who is present at and signs the report of a police search


witness

en-verb

witness (third-person singular simple present witnesses, present participle witnessing, simple past and past participle witnessed)

witnesses (present singular third-person)
witnessing (participle present)
witnessed (participle past)
witnessed (past)

to witness a bond or a deed

To see the execution of (a legal instrument), and subscribe it for the purpose of establishing its authenticity.


petition

From Middle English, borrowed from Old French peticiun, from stem of Latin petitio, petitionem (“a request, solicitation”), from petere (“to require, seek, go forward”).

der

(law) A formal written request for judicial action.

жа́лба

legal: formal request for judicial action


visitor

Partly from Middle English visiter, visitere, equivalent to visit + -er; and partly from Middle English visitour, from Anglo-Norman visitour, from Old French visetëor.

As to eleemoſynary corporations, by the dotation the founder and his heirs are of common right the legal viſitors, to ſee that that property is rightly employed, which would otherwiſe have deſcended to the viſitor himſelf: […]

1765, William Blackstone, “Of Corporations”, in Commentaries on the Laws of England, book I (Of the Rights of Persons), Oxford, Oxfordshire: […] Clarendon Press, →OCLC, page 469:

(law) A person authorized to visit an institution to see that it is being managed properly.


proposal

/pɹəˈpəʊzəl/

LL-Q1860 (eng)-I learned some phrases-proposal.wav

ข้อเสนอ

kɔ̂ɔ-sà-nə̌ə

Something which is proposed, or offered for consideration or acceptance.

(law) The offer by a party of what they have in view as to an intended business transaction, which, with acceptance, constitutes a contract.

προσφορά

law: the offer by a party of what they have in view


proponent

From Latin prōpōnēns, present participle of prōpōnō (“to put forward; propose”).

(law) One who propounds a will for probate.


donkey bid

A fake bid at an auction, used by the auctioneer to raise the price and thus raise the commission.