1. Roman law. (ital.) A guarantor; a person who binds himself to pay another’s debt.
2. Hist. Maritime law. A person who acts as bail for a defendant in the Court of Admiralty. — Also spelled fideiussor. Cf. ADPROMISSOR. — fidejussory, adj.
“The proceedings of the court of admiralty bear much resemblance to those of the civil law, but are not entirely founded thereon; and they likewise adopt and make use of other laws, as occasion requires; such as the Rhodian law, and the laws of Oleron. For the law of England, as has frequently been observed, doth not acknowledge or pay any deference to the civil law considered as such; but merely permits its use in such cases where it judged its determinations equitable, and therefore blends it, in the present instance, with other marine laws …. The first process in these courts is frequently by arrest of the defendant’s person; and they also take recognizances or stipulation of certain fidejussors in the nature of bail, and in case of default may imprison both them and their principal.” 3 William Blackstone, Commentaries on the Laws of England 108–09 (1768).
