A Table of certain words 
in the Interpretation whereof 
the Common Law of this Realme 
and the Ciuill Law doe seeme 
to agree. 
 

A. 

ACcusatio  A bill of presentment, 
is a regular fourme of complaint, 
whereby offences, are opened and 
punished. 

Acquisitum purchased,  that is said to be 
whereof the propertie is translated from one 
to an other. 

Affines  are the kinsmen of the husband and 
the wife by mariage, so called, because two 
kindreds which are diuerse one from the other, 
are coupled by marryage, and one of them 
commeth to the borders or marches of the 
other kindred. 

Ad nos pertinere  is said that which doth 
belong vnto vs, eyther by way of propertie, or 
by way of possession, or by charge, or by ad­
ministration. 

Ædes, plural: a house consisting of diuerse 
rowmes, (for domus may consist onely of foun­
dation, wall, couer) as the integrall partes, or 
as some briefly say, which consisteth of soyle 
and superficies.


 
Æstas sommer, a part of the yeare, which be­
ginneth at the equinoctial of the spring, and 
endeth at the equinoctiall of Autum, and so 
sommer & winter are deuided by vi. moneths.

Annona vittaile, is not referred onely to 
corne, but to the meate of the shambles, aswell 
to fish as flesh. 

Aperta vis, open force, which is manifest and 
euident, and doth not receiue any excuse of 
simplicitie. 

Arbor vento deiecta,  hath not now the name 
of a tree, but the name of wood. Arbor dum 
crescit, lignum cum crescere nescit. 

Area,  a floare is a vacant place, therefore cal­
led Area quasi exaruerit, and were not able to 
bring forth any thing, it hath bin taken to be 
such an emptie place as doth lye discouered, 
locus ab aedificio purus, and hath no superfi­
cies: it is called a plot of ground, court or yard. 

Argentum  siluer, it is of three sorts, infectuun, 
factum, signatum. Infectum is that which is 
vnpollished and not adorned with any particu­
lar forme being in the ore, or bullion, newly 
seuered and singled from the ore. Factum, is 
that which is beutified with some particuler 
forme, of which kind is a siluer cuppe, a siluer 
goblet, a siluer bowle, or a siluer mazard. Sig­
natum is that which beareth some speciall I­
mage or impression, & such is the siluer that is 
coined & accompted currant, Argentum factun 


 
must be described by the kinde or shape, In­
fectum by the weight, Signatum by the number. 

Arrestare, is by the authoritie or warrant 
of the lawe, to hinder that either a man or his 
goodes bee at his owne libertie, vntill the 
lawe be satisfied. 

Artifices,  artificers, are they which sell 
things laboured by them, and by their labour 
reduced into a particular forme, as Shoma­
kers, Smithes, Glouers, Taylors and Wea­
uers, but artificium if it be largely taken, ex­
tendeth to the knowledge of euery arte: artifex 
and opifex differ, for in the one there is labour 
and iudgement, in the other labour only. 

Assultus, an assault is a violence done to a 
mans person, by the person of an other man. 


B. 

Bona fides a sincere conscience, excusing one 
of ill meaning. 


C. 

Carcer is taken two wayes, for it is eyther 
locus custodiae, or locus pænæ. 

Cauillatio  when a man turneth his speach ab euidenter veris, ad euidenter falsa. 

Cella because there we do celare, we do hide 
that which we would keepe secret or close.  

Ciuitas,  a citie: it is taken materially, and 
formally: being vnderstoode materially, it 
doth signifie a multitude of houses made of 
stone and timber, being formally taken it is 
ciuilis societas quasi societas simul viuens, and 


 
not viuens simplie, but viuens bene, for as 
Cicero saith, ciuitas sine legibus is corpus sine 
anima, and therefore Aristotle sayth, non con­
cedimus vt homo imperet sed ratio.  

Cliens, is he that is in suite, so called quasi 
colens, and hee who dealeth for him in the 
cause is called patronus, quasi pater. 

Codicillus, the declaration of a mans last wil, 
which without the iust solemnitie of a testa­
ment a man ob impedimenti necessitatem is 
inforced to write, but now the vse of codicills 
or testaments are without any necessitie con­
founded, which is contrary to lawe, for a codi­
cill ought to serue necessitie, & not a rash onset. 

Cognatio kindred, it is deuided into three 
parts; 1. into parents, 2. into children, 3. into cosins. Parents are they of whom we are be­
gotten, as father, mother, grandfather, grand­
mother, and these which are in degree aboue 
them. Children are they which are begotten 
of our bodies, as sonne, daughter, grandchild, 
and such as he vnderneath them, Et nati nato­
rum et qui nascentur ab illis. Cosins are they 
which haue neither begotten vs, nor bin begot­
ten of vs, but haue a common roote and origi­
nall with vs, as brother, sister, vncle, aunt, and 
such as do discend from them. 

Colludere, is in fraudem tertij conuenire. 

Commenda, the custodie of a Church com­
mitted and commended to some. 


 

Commodare is to graunt the vse of some 
thing for a certain time, there is difference be­
twixt commodare & mutuo dare, because com­
modare is to lend, to haue the same againe, as 
bookes, apparel, and such like, but mutuo dare 
is to trust, hoping to haue the like againe, as 
money, corne, salt, spices, and such like. 

Compromissum, is the power that is giuen 
to the arbitrator, so called because both the 
parties doe promise to obey the opinion of the 
Iudge, & therfore he is called compromissari­
us index to whom the matter is referred.

Communitas, a comminalty, is societas ho­
minum communi lege viuentium. 

Conditio, when a thing dependeth super ca­
sum incertum which may tende eyther ad esse 
or ad non esse. 

Confessio, is double: either iudicial, or extra­
iudicial, iudiciall is that which is done before 
the Iudge, extraiudicial which is done in pre­
sence of good and honest men. 

Consentire, is to meete in one opinion. 

Constitutiones, Iudgements, rules and a­
wardes concerning seueral matters whereup­
on this verse hath bin made.

Quatuor ex verbis virtutem collige legis, 
Permittit, punit, imperat, atque vetat. 
 

Controuersum ius, is that which is on both 
sides doubtful: certum ius is that which is cer­
tainly determined & is called positiue Law. 


 
Copulatiua  the coniunction copulatiue is 
taken after two sorts, either in a deuided sense, 
or in a compounded sense, in a deuided sense as 
when I say, Sir Robert Booke, and Sir Iames 
Dyer were Lord chiefe, Iustices of the Common 
pleas, for they were not chiefe Iustices toge­
ther, but at diuerse times: in a compounded 
sense, as when I say two & three do make fiue.  


D. 

Debito is he of whom we may against his wil 
exact money. 

Decimæ are of three sorts prædiales, perso­
nales, and mixt praediales are they which arise 
of farmes or lands, as corne, hay, and the fruits 
of trees: personal which are due by personall 
labor, as by some trade, trafick, or mistery, mixt 
of which it may be doubted whether they be 
predial or personal as wool, lambe, milke &c. 

Defensio, is the auoiding of a surmised & pre­
tended offence. 

Delegatus a delegate, to whom a cause is com­
mitted to be determined and ordered. 

De plano, vel sine figura iudicij, vel sum­
marie.  

Deprehendere, is to take a man in ipso 
facto, so that he can neuer flye, nor denye the 
facte. 

Discendere to discende or to spring of ones 
body, hereupon they which are borne of vs are 



called by the name of discendents, which with 
them that ascend make the right line, and the 
ascendents and discendents cannot marry to­
gether, wherefore if Adam were now liuing 
he could not marrie a wife. 

Diœcesis, the gouernment of a certaine 
prouince by the Bishop, for as a territorie is 
so called, quatenus iudex ius terrendi habet, 
so a diocese as farre as a Bishop hath ius ad­
ministrandi sacra. 

Dispensatio, a release of common right, ei­
ther ex causa vtilitatis, necessitatis, or ingen­
tis prærogatiuæ meritorum. 

Diuersa,  such things whose subiect is not 
alike, or whose definition is not alike. 

Dominium is a right to dispose perfitly de 
re corporali. 

Domus instructa, a house furnished, if a 
man deuise such a house the household stuffe 
passeth, but not the wine that is within the 
house, because by common intendement a 
house is not furnished by wine. 

Dubia causa, is that which is but semiple­
ne probata. 


E. 
Error, an opinion, whereby that is approo­
ued and allowed to be true which is false, and 
that to be false which is true, and error may be 
two wayes, eyther in iure constituto, or els 



in iure quod quis in suo habet negotio, the 
one is an error in lawe, the other in facto.  

Euanescit actio, the action doth faile, or 
abate, euanescit actio, by the power of the 
lawe, or of the Iudges, remittitur actio, by the 
will of the plaintife. 

Executor,  an executor, which is after three 
sorts, executor testamentarius, executor le­
galis, that is to say the ordinarie, executor da­
tiuus, the administrator. 

Election, is the certainetie of our will, it 
may be of persons, or of thinges, places, or 
times: Of things, as if a man should pay a 
summe of money, or els a horse or a hawke: 
Or of persons, as if he should pay it to I. S. 
or to I. N. Or of places, as if he should pay it 
at London, or at Lincolne. Or of the time, as 
the first day of April, or the second day of May. 


F. 
Falsitas, falshood is immutatio veritatis cum 
doto & damno alterius, the chaunge of truth 
with falsehoode to the deceiuing and endama­
ging of an other man. 

Fama, is a common report proceeding from 
suspition, and published by the voices of men, 
and it differeth from rumor, because that is a 
diuerse whispering of men, which is not so 
effectuall as Fame. Fama constans is that 
which is dispersed abroade neither by men 



vnknowen, nor of light credit, nec ignotis nec improbis.  

Fideiussor  is he which bindeth himselfe for 
another, quasi inssu alterius ponens fidem 
suam.

"Fideiussor" is partly supplied from the 1620 edition.

 

Fortuitus casus, a meare chaunce which by 
mans counsaile, care, and diligence can ney­
ther præuideri or præcaueri, be fore-seene or 
foreclosed. 


G. 
Generalis lex, a general law which compre­
hendeth all cases, except such as be vnlawfull, 
and vniust. For there is nothing more absurde 
then to draw a iust Lawe to an vniust inter­
pretation. 

Germani fratres are they which are of the 
same Father & Mother, Consanguinei which 
haue the same Father, but not the same Mo­
ther, Vterini which haue the same Mother, but 
not the same Father. 

Gestores negotionum,  factors or procurators 
be of three sorts, voluntarij which gratis and 
of their owne accord do regard the busines of 
their friend: Necessarij which by obligation 
of their office doe follow matters: Quasi ne­
cessarij, which haue some colour to deale in 
matters. 

Graeca mercari fide. i. pecunia numerata 
with money paied in hand. 




I. 
Illegitimi bastardes, whereof there be three 
sortes, Incestuosi which be begotten of kins­
men and kinswomen within the degrees pro­
hibited: Nefarij, which are begotten of des­
cendents, the chyldren of the same parent: 
Spurij, or Adulterini, which are borne in ad­
ulterie. 

Iniuria whatsoeuer is done against law and 
right, whether by wordes, as by slander: or by 
deede, as by violence of hand. 

Inops sine ope without helpe, which hath 
no wealth nor maintenance, whereby he may 
helpe himselfe. 

Instaurare, is to bring a thing into his four­
mer estate. 

Insula, a plot of ground compassed on all 
sides with the sea, quasi in fato posita, it is of 
two sortes: Perpetua, and Natiua. Perpetua, 
which hath bin from time out of minde part of 
a Prouince: Natiua, which hath bin lately dis­
couered by the ebbe and drought of waters. 

Interlocutoria sententia, which doth not de­
fine or determine the controuersie, for that is 
called sententia definitiua: an Awarde. 

Iudex limitaneus, which hath a limitted in­
risdiction, as the Lord in Court Baron who 
onely holdeth plea of a summe vnder xl. shil­
linges, and within the precinct of his Man­
nour. 



Iuramentum an oath, it is the affirming or 
denying of a thing with religious assertion, or 
attestation, and it is double: Extraiudicial or 
Iudicial. Extraiudicial, as Iuramentum con­
uentionale, when vppon a bargaine one doth 
sweare to an other. Iudicial is of two sorts, 
Necessarium, & Suppletiuum: Necessarium, 
which is ad litem æstimandam, when witnes­
ses are produced by the parties. Suppletiuum, 
when the Iudge doth enforce the partie him­
selfe to sweare for want of other proofes. 

Inseperabile, that is said to be which is so 
inherent in the subiect, that it cannot be remo­
ued, but they do either stand together or fall 
together. A thing may be said to be indiuidual 
or inseperable in many respects, 1. according 
to the fourme required in the act: And there­
fore if three be bound iointly, they must be sued 
iointly, 2. by reason of necessarie depending, 
and therefore the principal being defeated, the 
accessorie is also destroyed, because it cleaueth 
inseperably vnto the principal: and therfore if 
the marriage be not lawfull, the endowment 
cannot be lawfull, 3. by the meaning of the 
parties: as when a submission is made to two 
arbitrators, it is not to be imagined that the 
parties had an intent of seuerance, 4. by the 
nature of the thing: as when a thing will not 
suffer a particion: as a seignorie in grosse, a 
common, a condition, and so a iurisdiction is an 



entier thing: and therfore if a man will bring 
an action in a base Court of a debt of 4. li. it 
is not good for thirtie shillinges, or a lesse 
summe: for a Iudge or officer hath a precise 
power of the Law, and if he passe his iurisdic­
tion, his sentence or act is voide. 

Integrum is that which is compounded of 
diuerse partes, for partes compacted & ioyned 
together doe make the whole, but an entier 
thing may be diuersly: for it may be eyther 
totum numerale consisting of many numbers 
lincked together, 2. totum vniuersale, as the 
general nature wherof the particulers ar com­
prehended: as homo of animal, auis of bru­
tum, 3. totum integrale which is made whole 
and entier by many partes, and it is of two 
sorts, Heterogeneum, and Homogeneum: He­
terogeneum the partes whereof are not of the 
nature of the whole thing, as a house which 
doth consist of soyle, stone, woode, morter, & co­
uer. Homogeneum which is of the same na­
ture with the whole, as water, fier, earth, wher­
of euery part hath the name of the whole. 


L. 
Lacus is that which hath perpetuam aquam. 
Stagnum that which hath water at sometime, 
and is sometime drie. Fossa a receptacle for 
water made by mans hand. 

Lana, wolle, which may be cloath, but 
yet is not wrought in cloath. And if a man 



by his will do deuise his wolle to any, be it 
wrought or not wrought, dyed or not dyed, or 
be it spunne, it is comprised vnder the name of 
wolle, and it is called by the name of Wolle 
vntill it be made cloth. 

Littus, that place to which the greatest 
floude of the sea doth come. 


M. 

Maiestas, a soueraigne honour: Maiestie is said to be the daughter of honor & reuerence. 

Marinum et Maritinum do thus differ, Ma­
rinum is that quod Mare incolit, which lyueth 
in the Sea, or which is bredde in the sea, Ma­
ritinum quod Mare accolit, which is adioy­
ning, or adiacent vnto the sea. 

Mercator, a Merchant, is not as some think 
tearmed a Merce, but of the word Mercor, 
which signifieth to buy, and they are properly 
tearmed Mercatores, qui res emunt quas in 
eadem specie cariús vendant. 

Moneta, à monendo, Money, so tearmed, 
because by the impression of the stampe it doth 
giue vs notice, either of the prince whose it is, 
or the price which it beareth: It taketh Le­
gem valoris, the rule of the value of the superi­
our, & therefore it cannot be abased or refused, 
but by the commaundement of the superiour. 

Mortua res, that is said to be by which a 
man is not richer. 



Motu proprio, ex certa scientia, de pleni­
tudine potestatis, are prægnantes clausulæ, 
clauses of importance, against which none 
may be heard.

Mutuum, quasi ex meo tuum. 


N. 

Narratio, a declaration of a matter eyther 
ore tenus or in forme of law: If it be ore te­
nus, it is called a motion, & thereof it is said, 
qui bene narrat, bene impetrat: If it be in 
forme of law, it is a declaration grounded vp­
on a writ, contayning the whole state of the 
matter, as the plaintife supposeth it. 

Naturaliter possidere he is said, which pos­
sesseth a thing corporally, & taketh the profits
 of the thing possessed, and this of the common 
 Lawyers is called possessio in facto: But if a 
 mans father die seised, & the sonne doth not en­
ter, nor actually take the profites, neither doth 
any other disturbe him to take possession, this 
is called a possession in law, or eiuilis possessio.

Negotium meum, that is said to be, cuius 
luerum & damnum ad me pertinet. 


O. 
Obuentio is a kind of reuenew: it differeth 
from Reditus, being strictly taken, in this, that 
obuentiones are conting entiun, reditus certorum.  

Oculis res subijci dicitur when it is plaine & 
manifest, it is well said of Erasmus, ad cogni­
tionem magis faciuntaures, ad fidem facien­



dam certiores sunt oculi. 

Officialis, an Officiall, who in a certaine 
part of the diocesse is the Bishops deputie. 

Opera labour, it is double, Officialis, and 
Artificialis: Officialis, is that which is spent & 
bestowed vpon the diligent attendance done 
by the seruant to the Master. Artificialis, is the 
labour of the trade, as Printing, paueing, 
seeling, graueing, embrodering, & such like. 


P. 

Pactum is the consent of two or more in a 
matter which pleaseth both parties, Pollici­
tatio is when there is not the consent of two, 
but onely one agreeth. Pactio nuptialis is a 
Matrimonial contract. Pactum retrouendendi 
is when the vendee couenanteth, that if the 
vendor or his heires or executors will within a 
certain time pay so much money, as the vendee 
doth pay, that then he shall haue the land again, 
and be in his former estate. 

Palam factum  is that which is done openly. Pub­
lice factum is that which is done coram populo. 

Paries, a wall; thereof there be diuerse 
kindes: Lateritius which is made of clay, Tes­
taceus which is made of bricke, Cœmentarius 
which is made of lime, stone, and water ming­
led together, Cratitius which is made of wood, 
boardes, or boughes, platted together. 

Paræcos, a parishioner, an inhabitant in a 
certaine place, who hath brought his houshold 



to a certaine place, to reside there. 

Prætor maior,  the Maior of a city, as Rhodigi­
nus saith: for others ar called Prætores minores. 

Priuilegium  is ius singulare, whereby a 
priuate man, or a particuler Corporation is 
exempted from the rigor of common Law, for 
that which is now called proprium, hath bin 
called of olde writers priuum. 

Proprium that which doth so belong to one 
that it is not common to an other, & though that 
wherein we haue a ioint propertie with others 
may be called nostrum: yet it cannot be called 
proprium, for proprium doth not admit any com­
munion, but proprium & suum be equipollent, 
and of the same sense. 

Puer hath three significations, either it sig­
nifieth the estate of a man: as when we call ser­
uants pueros: Secondly the sexe, as when we 
call a male child puerum: Or els the age, as 
when we call one that is yong puerum. 

Pars is that wherby the whole is supported, 
it is either pars diuisa, or pars indiuisa, this di­
uision wil hold both in nature & Law: In na­
ture that is a diuided part, which consisteth of 
diuerse parcels: as the wing of a bird, or the 
clouen hoofe of a beast, or the finne of a fish are 
said to be parts diuided: In law there is also a 
diuided part, as the third part wherof a woman 
is indowed after the death of her husband, & after 
the assignment made, and the third part of the 



land of the tenant in Capite, which the king 
hath after his death: Likewise the partes of a 
manor diuided by parceners: A part vndiuided 
is manifest to the vnderstanding & to the eye: 
to the vnderstanding, as the moitie or third 
part of iointenants, parceners, tenants in com­
mon, before particion: to the eye, as the vn­
clouen hoofe of a beast, or the partes of the 
earth cleauing contumately together.  


R. 
Ripa, a banke, it is proper to a floude, as the 
shoare is to the sea. Ripa is that which doth 
flumen continere, stay the natural force of his 
course, and that is said to be a banke, quæ ple­
nissimum flumen continet, which stayeth the 
water, when it is at the highest. 


S. 
Sequestratio is either a seperation, by way 
of compounding, or by interdiction of possessi­
on: It is voluntaria, or necessaria, Voluntaria, 
when it is done by the consent of the parties, 
Necessaria, when it is done by one that hath a 
competent aucthoritie to sequester. 

Sylua cædua, which being cut may grow 
againe. 


T.
Tugurium, quasi tegurium,  it is taken of 
some for euery countrie house, but not rightly, 



for the house which doth consist of walles and 
tiles or bricke is no cotage, but a cotage is 
that which doth principally consist of reedes 
or thatch or soddes, earth and twigs layed to­
gether, and compacted by clay or slime, or 
which hath in it a very small deale of tim­
ber. 

Tumultus is taken for euery perilous com­
motion, if it be publiquely and hastely done. 

Turba, a multitude, consisting at the least 
of the number of tenne. 


V. 
Vacillaus testis, which doth giue an incon­
stant and diuerse testimonie. 

Vagabundus, which hath neither certaine 
house, nor stedfast habitation, a man, as one 
tearmeth him, sine re, sine spe, sine fide, sine 
sede. 

Vel, a particle, it doth not alwayes dis­
ioyne, but sometimes explane. 

Vis force or violence: it is of diuers sorts, 
vis detractiua, when a man taketh a thing 
from one against his will: vis compulsiua, 
when I compell a man to assent to a certaine 
acte, vis diuina, commonly called vis maior, 
whereof there is no resistance: vis expulsiua, 
which is done with weapon, and it is called 
of some vis armata, vis inquietatiua, when I 



am disseised by force, vis imminens the striking 
or assault of a man. Vis is not verbis, but facto, 
for he is not said vim pati, which is onely tou­
ched by wordes. 

Vniuersale quod ad vniuersos pertinet.