SACRAMENTO

sacramento (sak-r[schwa]-men-toh), n. [Latin “by oath”] Roman law. A legal action in the earliest form of civil procedure in which, at its commencement, each of the contending parties deposited or gave security for a certain sum (called the sacramentum), which the loser forfeited to the public. — Also termed legis actio sacramento. See LEGIS ACTIO.