Imports. Goods and chattels brought from foreign countries in the course of trade.

Imposts. Taxes or duties imposed; more especially on imports.
Inalienable. Not transferable.

Inchoate. That which is not yet complete or finished.

Indictment. A written accusation of crime against a person, made by a grand jury in due form of law.

Informer. One who informs the judicial authorities against a person who has violated some penal statute.

Inheritance. A continuing right in an estate to a person and his heirs. A right transmitted by operation of law.

Injunction. A writ granted by a competent court or a judge thereof, commanding a person to do some specific act mentioned in the writ.

Inquest. A judicial inquiry. An official examination.

Insolvency. A condition of inability to pay one's debts.

Insurgent. A person who rises in revolt against the authority or gov

ernment or law.

Intestate. A person who dies without making a will.

J.

Judge. A judicial magistrate above the grade of justice of the peace. Judgment. A judicial determination of a court or a judge, on the facts and issues tried in a cause.

Judicial. Pertaining to courts of justice.

Judiciary. That branch of government represented by the courts, giving interpretation and application to the laws.

Jurat. The certificate of the officer at the end of an affidavit, showing when and before whom it was made.

Jurisprudence. The science of law.

Jurist.

One well versed in the science of the laws of the land. Juror. One who serves on a jury.

Jury. A body of men summoned and sworn in court, to make inquest, or to give verdict on the facts of a cause as they appear from the evidence. Jury-Box. The place where the jury sits during the trial of a cause.

L.

Landlord. The owner of lands or houses leased to tenants.

Larceny. The unlawful taking and carrying away and appropriating the personal property of another. Stealing.

Law. A rule of action prescribed by the supreme power of a State, commanding what is right, and prohibiting what is wrong.

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Lawful. That which is not prohibited by law.

Lease. The temporary letting of real estate by the owner to the use of

another.

Legacy. A gift of personal property by will. A bequest.

Legal. Lawful. Permitted by law.

Legatee. One to whom a legacy is made.

Legislator. One who assists in making the laws.

Legislature. The body of men who enact or repeal the laws.

Lessee. The person to whom property is leased.
Lessor. The person who leases property to another.

Levy. The seizure of property on execution or tax-warrant.

Libel. A defamatory writing. A published defamation. A malicious publication expressed in print, writing, by pictures, effigies, or other

signs, tending to injure the memory of the dead or the reputation of the living, and to expose them to public hatred, contempt, or ridicule. Lien. A legal claim on property, for which the property is liable. Litigant. A person engaged as a party in a lawsuit. Litigation. A legal contest between parties in court. Lunacy. Insanity broken by intervals of reason. Lunatic. A person affected by lunacy.

M.

Majority. The full age required by law to manage one's own businessaffairs.

Malefactor. One who has committed a crime. A criminal.

Malfeasance. The doing of that which the party has no legal right to do.

Malicious. With wicked and unlawful intentions.

Manslaughter. The unlawful killing of a person, without malice expressed or implied.

Marshal. A ministerial officer in attendance at the United-States courts, whose duty it is to serve the processes of the courts, and to do such duties as usually devolve on the sheriffs of State courts.

Minor. A person of either sex under twenty-one years of age.
Misdemeanor. Any indictable crime less than a felony.
Misfeasance. A trespass, or any other affirmative wrong.
Misnomer. The mistaking of the true name of a person.
Misprision. Concealment of a crime.

Mortgage. A conditional conveyance of property, usually as security for the payment of a debt.

Mortgagee. The person to whom a mortgage is given.

Mortgagor. One who makes a mortgage

N.

Nation. The whole people of a country united under one government. Native. A person born within the limits of a country. A citizen or inhabitant by birth.

Naturalization. That process by which an alien becomes a citizen. Negotiable. Transferable from one to another, with or without indorsement.

Neutrality. The act of taking no part between two nations at war with each other.

Nonsuit. A judgment given against a plaintiff when he fails, with or without trial, to prove his action.

Nuisance. That which incommodes or annoys.

Nuncupative. Oral or verbal; that which is not written.

O.

Oath. A solemn affirmation or declaration, before a competent tribunal or officer, to tell the truth, appealing to God for the truth of what is asserted.

Obligation. A bond with a condition annexed, and a penalty for non

fulfillment.

Obligee. The person to whom another is bound.

Obligor. The one who gives a bond to another.

Offense. An open violation or transgression of a law.

Officer. One lawfully invested with a civil or military office.

Ordinance. A rule established by authority.

Outlaw. A person excluded from the benefit of law.

P.

Pardon. An act of grace or favor from the sovereign authority, remitting the penalty for crimes committed by subjects. An amnesty is a general pardon to a large number.

Partner. An associate in business transactions under a contract of partnership.

Partnership. An association of two or more persons in business matters under contract.

Passport. Official authority to travel from place to place by land or water, especially in foreign countries.

Pauper. A person so poor as to be unable to maintain himself, depending on charity for support.

Pawn. A chattel given in pledge for the fulfillment of a promise to do something, or pay money.

Pawnee. The person who receives a pawn.
Pawnor. The person who deposits a pawn.

Penalty. Penal retribution. Punishment for a crime.

Pension. An allowance paid by government, for past services, to officers, soldiers, and sometimes to authors and artists.

Perjury. Knowingly swearing falsely to matters material, in the course of judicial or other proceedings authorized by law, before an officer competent to administer an oath.

Plaintiff. The party who commences a suit in a court.

Pleadings. The statement in a logical and legal form of the facts which constitute the plaintiff's cause of action, and the defendant's ground of defense.

Policy. The writing or instrument in which a contract of insurance is embodied, whether on property or life.

Prima facie. Upon the first appearance.

Prison. A place of custody or confinement of a person against his will. A jail.

Prisoner. A person restrained of liberty against his will.

Prosecutor. One who institutes a suit in a court of law or equity. Punishment. A penalty inflicted by a court on a criminal.

R.

Real. Pertaining to things fixed and permanent, as real estate. Realty. The permanent nature of real property. Real estate. Rebel. A person who revolts from the government to which he owes allegiance, by openly opposing it, or taking up arms against it. Receiver. A person appointed by a court to receive and hold in trust money or other property which is the subject of litigation, pending the suit.

Referee. One to whom matters in controversy are referred, by agreement of the parties or otherwise, for decision.

Release. A giving up in due form some right or claim.

Rent. A certain periodical profit issuing out of the use of lands and

tenements.

Replevin. The name of an action at law for recovering the possession of goods and chattels wrongfully taken or detained.

Reversion. The return of an estate to the grantor or his heirs, after the grant is determined.

S.

Seizin. The possession of an estate in freehold.

Sergeant-at-arms. The officer of a legislative body who serves processes, and executes the orders of that body. Their constable.

Sheriff. The chief ministerial officer of a county to whom is intrusted

the execution of the laws.

Solicitor. An attorney in a court of equity.

Solvency. Ability to pay all of one's debts.

Specialty. A contract, or obligation by deed, under seal.

Statute. An act passed and completed by the law-making power. Subornation of Perjury. Procuring or inducing a person to take a false oath constituting perjury.

Subpœna. A legal writ or process used for summoning a witness into

court.

Suit. The attempt to secure redress by appeal to a court.

Summons. A writ issued by a court, at the instance of the plaintiff, citing or warning the defendant to appear at a certain time, to answer to claims preferred against him by the plaintiff.

Surety. One who becomes responsible for another.

Surrogate. An officer who presides over the probate of wills, and the settlement of the estates of deceased persons.

T.

Tenant. One who has temporary occupation or possession of lands or tenements, the title of which is in another by permission of the owner. Tender. An offer to pay money, deliver specific articles, or to perform service, according to the conditions of a contract.

Tenure. The manner, act, or right of holding property, especially real estate, whether by exclusive title or by lease.

Testator. One who leaves a valid will at death.

Testatrix. A female testator.

Testimony. The statements of witnesses under oath or affirmation. Title. That which gives the right to exclusive possession.

Tonnage. A tax or duty on ships or vessels in proportion to their capacity or their actual cubical contents.

Tort. Wrong or injury to one's property or rights, for which an action will lie.

Traitor. One who violates his allegiance, and betrays his country. A person guilty of treason.

Treason. An attempt to overthrow the government to which one owes

allegiance. In the United States, the levying of war against the gov ernment, or adhering to its enemies, giving them aid and comfort. Treaty. A compact, league, agreement, or contract between two or more nations or sovereigns, executed in legal form.

Trespass. An unlawful act committed with force and violence by one person on the property or right of another.