is expressive not only of a point or period | alternative of ex testamento, (from, by, or of time, but of continuity from that to a under a will.) Vel ex testamento, vel ab insubsequent time, without change. Thus, testato [hæreditates] pertinent; inheritances to say a deed or marriage is void ab initio, are derived either from a will, or from an is as much as to say, it was void when intestate, (one who dies without will.) Inst. made, and has never been otherwise. See 2. 9. 7. Id. 3. 10. 3. Dig. 29. 4. Cod. 6. 14. Trespasser ab initio. 2. See Ex testamento, Intestatus. AB INVITO. Lat. Com. 96. By or from an transfer ab invito is a See In invitum. Of old. 3 Bl. At the beginning; at first; originally. Ab here has the sense of in, as denoting unwilling party. A merely a separate period of time, without compulsory transfer. any necessary continuity to a subsequent AB OLIM. L. Lat. time; or rather, it is used in connections denoting actual contrast or change. Fleta, lib. 3, c. 9, § 21. Thus, it is said a gift or conveyance may be valid at the beginning, (ab initio,) that is, when first made, and become invalid by a subsequent act, (ex post facto,) and è converso. Bract. fol. 11 b. 51 a. 171 a. 336 b. 2 Bl. Com. 308. And see Fleta, lib. 4, c. 26, § 4. In initio is used in the same sense. Bract. fol. 18 a. 58 a. So, ab initio, in principio donationis; at the beginning, at the commencement of the gift. Id. fol. 17 b. So, ab initio, sive post tempus; at the beginning, or afterwards: ab initio, vel ex post facto; at the beginning, or by a subsequent act. Id. fol. 213 a. Fleta, lib. 4, c. 17, § 1. The phrase has the same sense in the civil law. Inst. 2. 17. 6. Id. 4. 1. 16. Dig. 30. 41. 2. And in the law maxim, Quod ab initio non valet tractu temporis non convalescet; that which is originally void shall not acquire validity by lapse of time. See Convalescere. It is constantly used in the civil law and by Bracton, in contrast with the phrase ex post facto, (q. v.) And see Perkins, ch. 3, s. 191. ABACTOR. Lat. [from abigere, to drive away.] In the Roman law. A driver away of cattle and other animals; one who drove away cattle from the herd, or smaller animals in numbers, with the intention of stealing them; a cattle stealer. Cowell. Blount. 3 Gibbon's Rom. Emp. ch. 44, (Am. ed.) 185, note. More commonly called abigeus, (q. v.) AB INITIO MUNDI. Lat. From the beginning of the world. Ab initio mundi usque ad hodiernum diem; from the beginning of the world to this day. Yearb. M. 1 Edw. III. 24. Formal words in old releases. The equivalent English words are still retained in the modern forms. AB INTESTATO. Lat. [Gr. iš d3iadérov.] In the civil law. From an intestate; from the intestate; in case of intestacy. Hæreditas ab intestato; an inheritance derived from an intestate. Inst. 2. 9. 7. Successio ab intestato; succession to an intestate, or in case of intestacy. Id. 3. 2. 3. Dig. 38. 6. 1. This answers to the descent or inheritance of real estate at common law. 2 Bl. Com. 490, 516. Story's Conflict of Laws, § 480. "Heir ab intestato." 1 Burr. 420. The phrase ab intestato is generally used as the opposite or ABACTORES. Lat. Cattle stealers. Paulus Sentent. Brissonius, voc. ABALIENARE. Lat. [from ab, from, and alienare, to alienate or transfer.] In the Roman law. To transfer to another; to make that which is ours, another's; to transfer wholly, or without reserve. Calv. Lex. This word occurs in the Digests. Dig. 10. 3. 14. 1. Dig. 32. 38. 7. ABALIENATIO. Lat. [from abalienare, q. v.] In the Roman law. The transfer, conveyance, or alienation of property from one person to another. This compound term occurs frequently in classical writers, and was peculiar to the citizens of Rome, denoting the perfect transfer of a thing. Calv. Lex. It gave place to the simple alienatio, which is the term used in the Digests and Institutes, as well as in the feudal law, and from which the English alienation has been formed. Inst. 2. 8. pr. Id. 2. 1. 40. Dig. 50. 16. 28. Feud. Lib. 1, tit. 13, lib. 2, tit. 9. See Alienatio. ABAMITA. Lat. In the civil law. A great great grandfather's sister, (abavi soror.) Inst. 3. 6. 4. Dig. 38. 10. 3. Called amita maxima. Id. 38. 10. 10. 17. Called in Bracton, abamita magna. Bract. fol. 68 b. The edition of 1569 has abavita. ABANDON. To relinquish or surrender a right or property to another. To give up a thing absolutely, without reference to any particular person or purpose. To forsake or desert a person. Abandonment. Sec ABANDONEE. A party to whom a right or property is abandoned or relinquished by another. Applied to the insurers of vessels and cargoes. Lord Ellenborough, C. J. 5 M. & S. 82. Abbott, J. Id. 87. Holroyd, J. Id. 89. ABANDONMENT. [Lat. cessio, derelictio, destitutio.] The relinquishment, cession, or surrender of a right, or of property, by one person to, or for another. See Cession. The giving up a thing absolutely, without reference to any particular person or purpose; as throwing a jewel into the highway; leaving a thing to itself, as a vessel at sea; desertion, or dereliction. 2 Bl. Com. 9, 10. See Dereliction. The voluntary leaving of a person to whom one is bound by a particular relation, as a wife, husband, or child. See Malicious Abandonment. ABANDONMENT. [Fr. delaissement, abandon.] In marine insurance. A relinquishment, or cession of property by the owner to the insurer of it, in order to claim as for a total loss, when in fact it is so by construction only. 2 Steph. Com. 178.-The exercise of a right which a party having insured goods or vessels has to call up the insurers, in cases where the property insured has, by perils of the sea, become so much damaged as to be of little value, to accept of what is, or may be saved, and to pay the full amount of the insurance, as if a total loss had actually happened. Park on Ins. 143. 2 Marshall on Ins. 559. 3 Kent's Com. 318335, and notes. Its effect is to transfer to the underwriter only that interest of the insured which is covered by the policy. 2 Arnould on Ins. 1159. 6 Ohio State R. 200. Abandonment may be made either by a formal instrument called a deed of cession; or, which is more usual, by letter, no particular form being necessary. 6 Cranch R. 268. 1 Wash. C. C. R. 400, 530. See 18 Pick. R. 83. Peters' Digest, Abandonment. United States Digest, Abandonment, Insurance. ABANDONMENT. [Lat. cessio.] In French law. The act by which a debtor surrenders his property for the benefit of his creditors. Merlin Repert. Abandon ment. ABARNARE. L. Lat. [from Sax. abarian, to uncover, disclose, or make bare.] In old English law. To detect, discover, or disclose any secret crime. LL. Hen. I. c. 91. Cowell. Abarnatus; discovered, detected. LL. Canuti, c. 104. Cowell. ABATAMENTUM. L. Lat. [from abatare, q. v.] In old English law. An abatement of freehold; an entry upon lands by way of interposition between the death of the ancestor, and the entry of the heir. Co. Litt. 277 a. Yelv. 151. See Abatement of freehold. ABATARE. L. Lat. [from Fr. abater, q. v.] In old English law. To abate. Abatavit; she abated. Yelv. 151. See Abate. ABATE. [from Fr. abater, abatre, to beat, or throw down; L. Lat. abatare.] To beat, break, pull or throw down; to overthrow, demolish, or destroy a material object, as a house, castle, sheep-fold, &c. See Abater. This original meaning of the word is still preserved in modern law, in its application to nuisances. To abate a nuisance is to remove it, by pulling, cutting, or breaking it down, or otherwise destroying it. 3 Bl. Com. 168. To overthrow, destroy or defeat a right, or a judicial proceeding. To abate a.freehold, is to overthrow it by the intervention of a stranger. 3 Bl. Com. 168. See Abatement of freehold. To abate a writ or action, is to defeat, overthrow, prostrate, (prosternere,) quash, (cassare,) or put an end to it by some fatal exception. 3 Bl. Com. ub. sup. Co. Litt. 134 b. Steph. Plead. 47. See Abatement in pleading. To be reduced, or diminished, (lowered or brought down ;) as the claim of a legatee, or creditor. 2 Fonbl. Equity, 369. See Abatement among legatees. To cease, terminate, or come to an end prematurely, as a suit, or other judicial proceeding; (to drop or fall; L. Lat, cadere.) 2 Archb. Pract. 299. 6 Wheaton's R. 260. See Abatement in practice, Cadere. ABATEMENT. [L. Lat. abatamentum.] The act of abating; the state of being abated. See Abate; and infra. ABATEMENT OF A NUISANCE. The taking away of a nuisance by pulling, cutting, or breaking it down, or otherwise removing or destroying it.* The remedy which the law allows a party injured by a nuisance, of destroying or removing it by his own act, so as he commits no riot in doing it, nor occasions (in the case of a private nuisance,) any damage beyond what the removal of the inconvenience necessarily requires. 3 Bl. Com. 5, 168. 3 Steph. Com. 361. 2 Salk. 458. 1 Chitt. Gen. Pract. 647-656. 2 Crabb's Real Prop. | molish or destroy. Le roy, pur le trespas 1078, § 2475. et pur le despite, face abate le chastell où le forcelet; the king, for the trespass and for the contempt, shall cause the castle or fortalice to be demolished. Stat. Westm. I. c. 17. Abater un faude; to abate a fold. Yearb. P. Edw. III. 48. ABATEMENT OF FREEHOLD. [L. Lat. abatamentum.] The overthrow of a freehold by the unlawful entry of a stranger, where the possession is vacant. The act of a stranger in entering upon lands, after the death of the ancestor, or person last seised, and before the entry of the heir, devisee, or person next entitled, and keeping the latter out of possession. Co. Litt. 277 a. 3 Bl. Com. 168. 3 Steph. Com. 482. 2 Crabb's Real Prop. 1063, § 2454 b. A species of ouster of the freehold, the technical peculiarity of which consists in its being effected by intervention, that is, by stepping in, or interposing between the ancestor and heir. Hence called in the books an entry by interposition. Co. Litt. 277 a. To cut down. Пl ad abatu les keynes; he hath cut down the oaks. T. 3 Edw. III. 14. To abate or quash. Abatre un bref. Fet Assaver, § 32. Ceo abateroit le briefe, this would abate the writ. Reg. Orig. 229 b. regula. To abate; to fall or fail; to come to an end; to become or be declared void. Le bref n' abatera pas; the writ shall not abate. Keilw. 20 b. Cowell. See Abatement of freehold. ABATUDA. L. Lat. In old records. ABATOR. One who abates; one who removes a nuisance; one who enters upon ABATEMENT AMONG LEGATEES. [L. land by way of interposition, before the Lat. defalcatio.] The proportionate reduc- entry of the heir, or person lawfully entition, or diminution which legatees are sub-tled. Litt. sect. 475. Co. Litt. 277 a. ject to have made in the pecuniary legacies bequeathed to them, when the funds or assets out of which such legacies are payable are not sufficient to pay them in full. 2 Fonbl. Equity, 369. Ward on Legacies, 369, ch. vi. sec. vii. 1 Story's Equity Jurispr. § 555. Bract. fol. 61 a. 2 Bl. Com. 512, 513. ABATEMENT IN PLEADING. [L. Lat. cassatio.] The defeating, overthrowing, prostration, quashing, or putting an end, for the present, to a writ or action, by some matter of fact pleaded by a defendant; the plea itself being termed a plea in abateCo. Litt. 134 b. 277 a. 3 Bl. Com. 168. Steph. Pl. 47, Appendix, Note (22). See Plea in abatement. ment. ABATEMENT IN PRACTICE. The cessation or determination, (falling, or dropping) of a suit, or the suspension of all proceedings in it, from the want of proper parties capable of proceeding therein; as in consequence of the death of one of the parties during its pendency. 2 Archb. Pr. 299. 2 Tidd's Pract. 932. Story's Eq. Plead. § 354. 6 Wheaton's R. 260. Bac. Abr. Abatement. U. S. Digest, Abatement. See Cadere. At common law, a suit when abated is absolutely dead, but in equity, a suit when abated is, (if such an expression be allowable,) merely in a state of suspended animation, and may be revived. Story's Eq. Pl. ub. sup. ABATER, Abatre. L. Fr. To abate; to beat or break down; to overthrow; to de Mur Diminished. Moneta abatuda; money Abated, quashed. Un briefe fuit abatus; a writ was quashed. Reg. Orig. 97 b. nota. Ne soit le briefe abatus; the writ shall not. be quashed. Stat. Westm. 1, c. 47. ABAVIA. Lat. In the civil law. A great great grandmother. Inst. 3. 6. 2. Dig. 38. 10. 1. 6. Bract. fol. 68 b. ABAVITA. A great great grandfather's sister. Bract. fol. 68 b. This is a misprint for abamita, (q. v.) ABAVUNCULUS. Lat. In the civil law. A great great grandmother's brother; (abavia frater.) Inst. 3. 6. 4. Dig. 38. 10. 3. Called avunculus maximus. Id. 38. 10. 10. 17. Called by Bracton and Fleta abavunculus magnus. Bract. fol. 68 b. Fleta, lib. 6, c. 2, § 19. ABBAS. L. Lat. An abbot. Reg. Orig. 238 a. 303 a. Fleta, lib. 3, c. 5, § 9. Abbates; abbots. Id. § 8. Spelman. ABBATISSA. L. Lat. An abbess. Reg. Jud. 4 b. In ABBETTARE, Abettare. L. Lat. old English law. To abet. Rast. Entr. 54. Abettasse et procurasse; to have abetted and procured. Reg. Orig. 134 a. See Abet. ABBETTATOR, Abettator. L. Lat. In old English law. An abettor. Spelman. Stat. Westm. 2, c. 12. See Abettor. ABBETTUM. L. Lat. In old English law. Abetment. Reg. Orig. 270 a. Stat. Westm. 2, c. 12. See Abetment. ABBREVIATE. In Scotch law. An abstract. Ersk. Inst. b. 2, tit. 12, § 43. ABBREVIATIO. L. Lat. In old English law. Abbreviation; an abbreviation. Abbreviationum ille numerus et sensus accipiendus est, ut concessio non sit inanis; in abbreviations, that number [whether singular or plural,] and that sense is to be taken, by which the grant is not rendered void. 9 Co. 48. ABBREVIATION. A short or contracted mode of writing, very common in old records, law treatises and reports, especially those in Latin and French, and still used to a limited extent in the practice of the courts, and in printed books. There are various kinds of abbreviations; as, By using the initial letters of words instead of the words at length; as B. R. for Banco Regis; Q. B. for Queen's Bench; N. P. for Nisi Prius; S. C. for Same Case; S. P. for Same Point, and the like. In the Roman law, this mode of abbreviation was sometimes carried to a great extent; as, in their senatus consulta, Q. D. E. R. F. P. D. E. R. I. C., which stood for Quid de ea re fieri placeret, de ea re ita censuerunt. Tayl. Civ. Law, 576. By using the first syllables instead of the entire words; as def' for defendens, bre' for breve, vic' for vicecomes, ven' for venit, dic' for dicit; re. fa. lo. for recordari facias loquelam; sus. per col. for suspensus per collum; and the more modern and familiar cur. adv. vult, for curia advisari vult; fi. fa. for fieri facias; sci. fa. for scire facias, and the like. So in references to authoritics; lib. for liber, cap. for caput, and the like. By doubling the initial letter to denote the plural; as LL. for leges, laws; cc. for capita, chapters. All the foregoing kinds of abbreviation are still in common use. Another mode of abbreviation, now for the most part disused, consisted in omitting one or more of the letters of a word; as dns for dominus, het for habet, hmdi for hujusmodi, io for ideo, oibs for omnibus, qd for quod; and the French boe for bone, dde for demande, pols for parols, and the like; and sometimes in substituting a different letter for those omitted; as acco for actio, cassaco for cassatio, administracon for administration, and the like. But abbreviations of this kind were more properly called contractions. See Contraction. Abbreviations and contractions formed one of the peculiarities of the court hand in which the records of the courts were anciently written, and are followed in some of the old printed books, as Bracton, and the Register. Domesday Book abounds in them. They were accompanied by various arbitrary marks (dashes, turns, &c.) upon, through, or over the letters retained, to denote the omissions. Towns. Pl. per tot. 1 Instr. Cleric. 1-20. See Court hand. They were prohibited by the English statute of 4 Geo. II. c. 26, the provisions of which have generally been adopted in the United States. 3 Bl. Com. 323. 2 N. Y. Rev. St. [275,] 205, §9. A very few of them, however, continue to be retained, though without any of the ancient marks; as vs. for versus; adsm. for ad sectam, and the like. The principal abbreviations used in the books will be found in this work under the proper alphabetical heads. Others, including those used in references to authorities, may be found in the tables of explanations. ABBROCAMENTUM, Abrocamentum. L. Lat. In old English law. Abbrochment, or abroachment. Spelman. See Abbrochment. ABBROCHMENT, Abrochment, Abroachment. [L. Lat. abrocamentum; from abroch, or abroach, Sax. abracan, to break.] In old English law. The buying up of goods by wholesale, (emptio mercium integrarum,) before they are brought to a market or fair, and selling them again, (breaking them up, per portiones distractio,) by retail; a forestalling of the market. Spelman, voc. Abrocamentum. Cowell. ABBUTTALS. See Abuttals. ABBUTTRE. L. Fr. To abut, (q. v.) Abbuttant et adjoynant al haut estret; abutting and adjoining the highway. Yearb. P. 11 Hen. VI. 2. ABCARIARE. L. Lat. In old Eng lish law. To carry away. Cepit et abcaria- tion, by the laws of Canute and of Henry vit: (he) took and carried away. Dyer, I. LL. Canuti, c. 93. LL. Hen. I. c. 13. 70 a. ABDICATION. [Lat. abdicatio, from abdicare, to renounce.] The renunciation or relinquishment of an office, either formally and expressly, or by actions inconsistent with the proper discharge of its duties. Commonly used to express the voluntary renunciation of supreme power. 1 Bl. Com. 211. 4 Id. 78. Termes de la ley. ABDITORIUM. L. Lat. [from abdere, to hide.] In old records. A place to hide and preserve goods, plate or money; an abditory. 3 Mon. Angl. 173. Cowell. ABDUCERE. Lat. In old English law and practice. To lead away; to carry away. Abduxit; (he) led away. Applied in old writs to the taking of live animals, as distinguished from asportavit, (q. v.) F. N. B. 86 A. note. See Cepit et abduxit. Applied also to the taking of persons. Rapuit et abduxit; (he) ravished and carried away. Stat. Westm. 2, c. 35. 2 Inst. 440. De hæredibus vi abductis; concerning heirs carried off by force. Stat. Merton, c. 6. Spelman. Cowell. In the civil law. To be absent; to be away from a place. Said of a person who was extra continentia urbis, (beyond the suburbs of the city.) Dig. 50. 16. 173. 1. Within that limit he was not considered as absent, unless he concealed himself. Id. Dig. 50. 16. 199. pr. Dig. 3. 3. 5, 6. To be out of one's possession, as a thing was when lost or stolen. Dig. 50. 16. 13, 14. To be out of existence, not in rebus humanis. Dig. 50. 16. 13. 3. ABET. [from Sax. a, on, or onward, and betan, or gebetan, to stir up, or excite; L. Lat. abettare.] In criminal law. To encourage, set on, stir up, or excite to commit a crime. Spelman, voc. Abbettator. Cowell. Whishaw. Always taken in a bad sense, and generally used in connection with the word aid; as in the phrases, "to aid and abet," "aiding and abetting." ABÈTMENT. [L. Lat. abettum, abbettum; L. Fr. abette.] In old criminal law. An encouraging, or instigation. Staundf. Pl. Cor. 105. Cowell. Blount. manutenens; abetting, comforting, and maintaining. 2 How. State Trials, 746. ABDUCTION. [Lat. abductio, from abducere, to lead away.] In criminal law. The offence of taking away a man's wife, ABETTARE. L. Lat. In old English child or ward, by fraud and persuasion, or law. To abet, (q. v.) Abettans; abetting. open violence. 3 Bl. Com. 139-141. 32 Show. 512. Abettans, confortans et Steph. Com. 538, 539. 1 Russell on Crimes, 701. The term is applied also to the unlawful taking or detention of any female, for the purpose of marriage, concubinage, or prostitution. Stat. 9 Geo. IV. c. 31, sects. 19, 20. 4 Steph. Com. 129. See 2 N. Y. Rev. Stat. [663, 664,] 553, SS 24-26. See Kidnapping. ABEARANCE, Abearing. [from abear, or bear, to behave; L. Lat. gestus.] In old English law. Bearing or carriage; deportment, conduct, or behavior.* 4 Bl. Com. 256. See Good abearance. ABEISSEMENT, Abbessement, Abbassement. L. Fr. A lowering, lessening, abatement. Kelham. ABETTATOR. L. Lat. In old English law. An abettor. Fleta, lib. 2, c. 65, § 7. See Abettor. ABETTOR. [L. Lat. abettator, abbettator.] In criminal law. An instigator, or setter on, (incitator;) one who promotes or procures a crime to be committed; one who commands, advises, instigates, or encourages another to commit a crime, (qui alium ad facinus aliquod perpetrandum exacuit, tutaturve facturum.) O. N. Br. 21. Spelman, voc. Abbettator. Cowell. Now generally applied to a person present, either actually or constructively, at the ABEREMURDER. [Sax. æberemord, commission of a crime, who does not comor eberemord, from abere, evident or open, mit it with his own hands, but assists, and mord, killing, murder: L. Lat. abere- facilitates, or encourages its perpetration. murdrum, apertum murdrum.] In Saxon 1 Russell on Crimes, 26, 27. 4 Bl. law. Plain or apparent murder, open kill- Com. 33. Sometimes called a principal in ing, (cædes manifesta,) as distinguished the second degree. Id. ibid. See Abet. from the less heinous crimes of man- Mere presence (though actual) at the slaughter and chance-medley. Declared a commission of a crime, does not make a capital offence, without fine or commuta-person an aider and abettor. It is neces |