Abstract of title. An outline history of the title to land, consisting of a synopsis or summary of all conveyances, mortgages, liens, and charges affecting the parcel of land in question. Acceptance. (a) The assent of the offeree to the proposal of the offeror, thus concluding a contract; (b) the act by which the drawee of a bill of exchange assents to the request of the drawer to pay it and makes himself liable to pay it. Acceptor. The person who accepts a bill of exchange.

Acceptor supra protest. The person who, after it is protested, accepts a bill of exchange for the honor of the drawer or an indorser.

Accession. (a) That which is united to,

or produced by, property; (b) the right to all that one's property produces or that is united to one's property. Accommodation paper. A bill or note to which the accommodating party puts his name as indorser, maker, or drawer without consideration, in order to lend his credit to another. Acknowledgment. (a) In conveyancing, the act by which one who has executed a deed or other instrument goes before a notary public, or other authorized officer, and declares or acknowledges that he did execute the same; (b) the certificate of the officer to that effect.

Act of God. Inevitable accident beyond human foresight or control. See Vis major.

Act of honor. The instrument drawn up by a notary certifying that a bill has been protested and that a person named has accepted or paid it for the honor of the drawer or an indorser. Action. The proceeding in a court for the enforcement of a right; also called a suit. Administrator. A person appointed by the court to administer the estate of a deceased person who has not by will named an executor. The feminine is administratrix.

Admiralty. (a) The system of law gov

erning maritime causes; (b) the court administering this law.

Adult. One of the full legal age, usually twenty-one years. Adverse possession. A possession of real property adverse to the right or title of another. If continued for a specified period, usually twenty years, it cuts off the right of the other to reclaim the property.

Affidavit. A written declaration under oath.

Agistor. One who pastures cattle for another.

Aleatory (Latin alea, a die, or chance).

Depending upon an uncertain event. Alienate. To convey; to transfer the title to property.

Allonge. The strip of paper attached to a bill or note to receive further indorsements after the back of the instrument is filled.

Alteration. Changing the terms of a

written instrument. Ambiguity. Doubtfulness or doubleness of meaning.

Ancestor. One from whom a person has descended in a direct line. Sometimes used in the broader sense of one from whom a person has inherited lands.

Annuity. A yearly sum stipulated to

be paid to a person.

Answer. (a) In pleading, the matter set up by way of defense to an action; (b) a formal written statement containing the defense to an action. Ante (Latin, before). Refers to a preceding part of a book.

Appeal. The removal of a cause from

an inferior to a superior court in order to have the action of the lower court reviewed.

Articles. A contractual document containing the terms of an agreement. Assets. (a) Property of a deceased person or a bankrupt available for payment of debts; (b) the aggregate available property of a merchant. Assignment. The transfer of rights or interests.

Attachment. A process by which prop

erty is seized pending a suit.

Bankrupt. A person who under the

bankruptcy laws is liable to have his property seized and distributed among his creditors.

Beneficiary. (a) A person entitled to

the income or enjoyment of property the title to which is held by another as trustee; (b) the person to whom a life insurance policy is payable.

Bequeath. To give personal property by will to another.

Bequest. A legacy or gift of personal property by will.

Bilateral. In contract, signifying an

agreement executory on both sides. Bona fides (Latin, good faith). Bona fide, in good faith.

Bond. A sealed obligation to pay money. A bond and mortgage consists of a bond with a mortgage to secure its payment.

Bought and sold note. A bought note is given to the seller and a sold note is given to the buyer by a broker who acts as agent between the parties. These are memoranda of the contract.

Boycott (from the name of one Boycott, who was agent for an estate in Ireland). (a) A combination to cease dealing with a person; (b) a conspiracy to induce others to cease dealing with a person.

Breach. The violation or nonfulfillment of an obligation. By-laws. Regulations or rules adopted by a corporation for its own govern

ment.

Cargo. Goods and merchandise put on

board a ship to be carried from one port to another.

Case. A statement of facts upon which an action in a court is based. Caveat emptor (Latin). Let the buyer beware.

Caveat venditor (Latin). Let the seller beware.

Champerty. A bargain by which an

attorney agrees to carry on a suit at his own risk and cost in consideration that he shall receive in case of success a part of the proceeds of the suit.

Chancery. (a) A court of equity; (b) the system of jurisprudence administered in a court of equity.

Charter. (a) A legislative act together with proceedings taken thereunder by which a corporation is created; (b) to hire or lease a vessel. Charter party. The contract by which a vessel or some principal part thereof is let for a voyage.

Chattel. An article of personal property. A more comprehensive phrase than goods, since it includes chattels real.

Chattel real. A chattel interest in

land, as a leasehold.

Chose. A thing; any article of property. A chose in action is a right of action to recover a debt, demand, or thing.

Civil action. An action to establish a private right, as distinguished from a criminal action.

Civil law. The Roman law as distin

guished from the English law. Code. A legislative enactment intended to embody the law on a particular topic or, as in some states, on all topics.

Collateral. (a) In the law of descent, in a side line, not direct or lineal; (b) in commercial law, a security additional to the personal obligation. Commercial paper. Bills, notes, and checks given in the course of commercial transactions. It does not in

clude accommodation paper. Common law. (a) The law of England, as distinguished from the civil law; (b) that part of the law of England developed by the common law courts.

Complaint. The name of the pleading by the plaintiff in an action at law. Sometimes called a declaration.

Composition. An agreement between an insolvent debtor and his creditors whereby the latter agree to take less than the whole of their claims. Compromise. An agreement to settle a dispute made in view of the uncertainty of legal rights. Conversion. An unauthorized assumption and exercise of ownership over goods belonging to another. It is a

tort.

Conveyance. An instrument in writing under seal by which any estate in real property is created, aliened, mortgaged, or incumbered. Copyright. An exclusive right granted by the government to multiply and sell a literary or artistic production. Corporeal. Having an objective, material existence.

Costs. An allowance made to a successful party to a suit, to compensate for his expenses in conducting it. Covenant. A promise contained in a sealed instrument.

Custom. In law, a usage so well established as to be regarded as having the force of law.

Damages. A pecuniary compensation recovered in a court for some injury or loss sustained through the wrongful act or omission of another. Deceit. A fraudulent representation or device by which a person is misled to his damage.

Declaration. The pleading in which a plaintiff states his cause of action. See Complaint.

Decree. The name given to the judgment of a court of equity. Deed. A sealed instrument containing a contract or conveyance. Defendant. The person against whom an action is begun.

Del credere (Italian, of trust or credit). Applied to an agent who guaranties that purchasers will pay for goods of the principal sold to them. Descent. In real property, the title given by force of law upon the death of an owner.

Devise. A gift of real property contained in a will. The devisee is the one to whom it is given; the devisor the one who gives it.

Earnest. A sum paid to bind a bargain. Easement. A right in the owner of one parcel of land, as owner, to a use in the land of another. Emblements. Annual products of the soil raised by labor and industry. Equity. The system of jurisprudence administered in the equity courts. See Chancery.

Equity of redemption. The period allowed by equity for a mortgagor, pledgor, etc., to reclaim his property by paying the debt secured by it. Escrow. A deed delivered to a third person to be held until the happening of some contingency, and then delivered to the grantee.

Estate. The interest one has in prop

erty. Sometimes used broadly to include all of one's possessions. Estoppel. A bar raised by the law to

preclude a man from setting up certain facts because of some prior admission or conduct. The verb is "to estop."

Estovers. The right of a tenant to

take wood necessary for fuel, fences, and repairs is called a right to es

tovers.

Executor. A person appointed by the maker of a will (the testator) to carry out its provisions. The feminine is executrix.

Fee (same as feud or fief). Originally land held of a superior lord in consideration of military service. Now an estate of inheritance in lands. Fee-simple. An absolute, unqualified fee; the largest estate one can have in lands.

Fee-tail (from French taille, a cutting). A fee from which the general heirs are cut off and only particular heirs are designated. Fiduciary. (a) As a noun, a person in a relation of trust or confidence; (b) as an adjective, signifying a relation of trust or confidence. Forcible detainer. Keeping possession of lands by force.

Forcible entry. Taking possession of lands by force. Foreclosure. A proceeding for extinguishing the right of a mortgagor or pledgor to redeem the property given as security for a debt. Forgery. Fraudulently making or altering a writing which purports to create or modify a legal right against another.

Franchise. A special privilege conferred by law upon an individual or a corporation, which does not belong to persons of common right.

Fraud. Some willful act or device cal

culated to influence or mislead a per

son to his prejudice.

Fructus industriales (Latin). Fruits of industry; products of land raised by labor. Fructus naturales (Latin). Fruits of nature; natural products of land. Fungible. Capable of being estimated or replaced by weight, measure, or number without reference to the particular characteristics of each unit.

which (one was before).

In transitu. In transit. Incorporeal. Without body or material substance.

Incumbrance. A claim, lien, or liability attached to property, as a mortgage, judgment, etc.

Indemnify. To save harmless; to secure against loss or damage. Indenture. Formerly a deed in two copies with cut or serrated edges so that one would fit into the other. Now any deed by which two or more parties enter into reciprocal obligations.

Indorse. Literally, to write on the back. Injunction. A writ issued by a court of equity forbidding or commanding something.

Insolvency. Inability to pay debts in

due course.

Inter vivos. Between the living. Intestate. Without a will or testament.

Joint and several. An obligation by two or more which may be enforced against all jointly or each individually.