contravention (kon-tr[schwa]-ven-sh[schwa]n). 1. An act violating a legal condition or obligation; esp., an entail heir’s act that conflicts with the entail provision. 2. French law. A criminal breach of a law, treaty, or agreement; a minor violation of the law. • A contravention is traditionally punishable by peines de police, usu. a fine not exceeding […]
imply, vb. 1. To express or involve indirectly; to suggest (the opinion implies that the court has adopted a stricter standard for upholding punitive-damages awards). Cf. INFER. 2. (Of a court) to impute or impose on equitable or legal grounds (the court implied a contract between the parties). 3. To read into (a document) (citing
sovereignty (sahv-[[schwa]-]rin-tee). 1. Supreme dominion, authority, or rule. [Cases: International Law 8. C.J.S. International Law §§ 25–28.] popular sovereignty. A system of government in which policy choices reflect the preferences of the majority of citizens. state sovereignty. See STATE SOVEREIGNTY. 2. The supreme political authority of an independent state. 3. The state itself.“It is well
judicium (joo-dish-ee-[schwa]m), n. [Latin] Hist. 1. A judgment. 2. A judicial proceeding; a trial. 3. A court or tribunal. • In Roman law, the plural judicia refers to criminal courts. Pl. judicia. judicium capitale (kap-i-tay-lee). [Latin] Hist. A judgment of death; a capital sentence. judicium parium (par-ee-[schwa]m). [Latin] Hist. A judgment of one’s peers; a
polygamy (p[schwa]-lig-[schwa]-mee), n. 1. The state or practice of having more than one spouse simultaneously. — Also termed simultaneous polygamy; plural marriage. [Cases: Bigamy 1. C.J.S. Bigamy §§ 2–6, 8.] 2. Hist. The fact or practice of having more than one spouse during one’s lifetime, though never simultaneously. • Until the third century, polygamy included
bailiwick (bay-l[schwa]-wik). The office, jurisdiction, or district of a bailiff; esp., a bailiff’s territorial jurisdiction. — Also termed bailivia; baliva; balliva. “In the early days a village was called a ‘wick.’ Each village had a bailiff who was its peace officer. His authority was limited to the territory of the wick. A bailiff was popularly
cats and dogs. Slang. 1. Nonperforming securities. 2. Highly speculative securities. “Wall Street disdainfully regards most penny stocks as cats and dogs, a popular phrase in use since 1879 to describe low-priced, often worthless, speculative securities. The single word dog also means a worthless security, and the related pup meant a low-priced, inactive stock during
nihilism (nI-[schwa]l-iz-[schwa]m). 1. A doctrine maintaining that there is no rational justification for moral principles and that there is no objective truth. 2. The view that traditional beliefs are unfounded and that life is meaningless and useless. 3. A theory that the existing economic, social, or political institutions should be destroyed, regardless of the result,
senility. Mental feebleness or impairment caused by old age. • A senile person (in the legal, as opposed to the popular, sense) is incompetent to enter into a binding contract or to execute a will. — Also termed senile dementia (see-nIl di-men-shee-[schwa]). [Cases: Mental Health 3. C.J.S. Insane Persons§§ 2, 6.] — senile, adj.
festuca (fes-tyoo-k[schwa]). Hist. A rod, staff, or stick used as a pledge (or gage) of good faith by a party to a contract or as a token of conveyance of land. • In Roman law, a festuca was a symbol of ownership. — Also termed fistuca; vindicta. See LIVERY OF SEISIN. “The wed or gage,