Search the Dictionary

The cohabiting of a man and a woman who are not legally married; the state of being a concubine.

g guilty, unfit for use, or forfeited; the act of dooming to punishment or forfeiture. A legal and judicial condemnation. Paley. Whose condemnation is pronounced. Shak.

the facts as stated by his adversary, but alleges some new matter by way of avoiding the legal effect claimed for them. Mozley & W. Confession of faith, a formulary containing the articles of faith; a creed. -- General confession, the confession of sins made by a number of persons in common, as in public prayer. -- W…

In accordance with the constitution or fundamental law; legally; as, he was not constitutionally appointed. Nothing would indue them to acknowledge that [such] an assembly . . . was constitutionally a Parliament. Macaulay.

Illegal or prohobited traffic. Persons the most bound in duty to prevent contraband, and the most interested in the seizures. Burke.

One who traffic illegaly; a smuggler.

to do, or not to do, a particular thing; a formal bargain; a compact; an interchange of legal rights. Wharton.

awful summons, or to the rules and orders of court, as a refusal to appear in court when legally summoned.

any use by a diversion from the proper or intended use; to appropriate dishonestly or illegally. When a bystander took a coin to get it changed, and converted it, [it was] held no larceny. Cooley.

A person proved guilty of a crime alleged against him; one legally convicted or sentenced to punishment for some crime.

e act or process of finding guilty, or the state of being found guilty of any crime by a legal tribunal. Conviction may accrue two ways. Blackstone.

Formed into a body by legal enactment; united in an association, and endowed by law with the rights and liabilities of an individual; incorporated; as, a corporate town.

One who gives advice, especially in legal matters; one professionally engaged in the trial or management of a cause in court; also, collectively, the legal advocates united in the management of a case; as, the defendant has able counsel. The King found his counsel as refractory as his judges. Macaulay.…

e of a sovereign or person high in aithority; all the surroundings of a sovereign in his regal state. My lord, there is a nobleman of the court at door would speak with you. Shak. Love rules the court, the camp, the grove. Sir. W. Scott.

The person entitled to wear a regal or imperial crown; the sovereign; -- with the definite article. Parliament may be dissolved by the demise of the crown. Blackstone. Large arrears of pay were due to the civil and military servants of the crown. Macaulay.

One appointed to act as guardian of the estate of a person not legally competent to manage it, or of an absentee; a trustee; a guardian.

cardinal bishop of the college of cardinals at Rome. Shipley. -- Dean and chapter, the legal corporation and governing body of a cathedral. It consists of the dean, who is chief, and his canons or prebendaries. -- Dean of arches, the lay judge of the court of arches. -- Dean of faculty, the president of an incorpor…

An account or report of a conclusion, especially of a legal adjudication or judicial determination of a question or cause; as, a decision of arbitrators; a decision of the Supreme Court.

To state the plaintiff's cause of action at law in a legal form; as, the plaintiff declares in trespass.

o submit to the opinion of another, or to authority; -- with to. The house, deferring to legal right, acquiesced. Bancroft.