Search for: legalism
2461 Etymology dictionary, p. counselor (n.).3
… professional legal advice, a counseling lawyer," is from 1530s. Psychological sense (as in marriage counselor, is from 1940).
2462 Etymology dictionary, p. counterpart (n.).2
mid-15c., countre part "duplicate of a legal document," from French contrepartie, from contre "facing, opposite" (see contra (prep., adv.)) + partie "copy of a person or thing," originally fem. past participle of partir "to divide" (see party (n.)).
2463 Etymology dictionary, p. court (n.).4
… the legal meaning "a tribunal for judicial investigation" (c. 1300, early assemblies for justice were overseen by the sovereign personally), also "hall or chamber …
2464 Etymology dictionary, p. cove (n.1).3
… the legal phrase cove and keie "right of the mistress of a household to control 'pantry and key,'" that is, to manage the household (late 13c.).
2465 Etymology dictionary, p. crackdown (n.).2
also crack-down, "legal or disciplinary severity," 1935, from the verbal phrase (1915), from crack (v.) + down (adv.); perhaps from crack (v.) in the sense of "to shoot at" (by 1913), or from the figurative notion in crack the whip .
2466 Etymology dictionary, p. criminal (adj.).2
… a legally punishable offense, of the nature of a crime;" late 15c., "guilty of crime," from Old French criminel, criminal "criminal, despicable, wicked" (11c.) and directly …
2467 Etymology dictionary, p. culprit (n.).2
… to legal tradition from Anglo-French cul prit, a contraction of Culpable: prest (d'averrer nostre bille) "guilty, ready (to prove our case)," words used by prosecutor …
2468 Etymology dictionary, p. curtilage (n.).2
… a legal word for "the enclosed land occupied by the dwelling and its yard and out-buildings."
2469 Etymology dictionary, p. dame (n.).3
… the legal title for the wife of a knight or baronet.
2470 Etymology dictionary, p. damn (v.).2
… a legal term, "to condemn, declare guilty, convict;" c. 1300 in the theological sense of "doom to punishment in a future state," from Old French damner "damn, condemn …
2471 Etymology dictionary, p. damn (v.).3
The legal meaning "pronounce judgment upon" evolved in the Latin word. The optative expletive use likely is as old as the theological sense. Damn and its derivatives …
2472 Etymology dictionary, p. decriminalize (v.).2
1963, "to reform a criminal," back-formation from decriminalization. Meaning "to make legal something that formerly had been illegal" was in use by 1970 (there are isolated instances back to 1867). Related: Decriminalized; decriminalizing .
2473 Etymology dictionary, p. de facto.2
Latin, literally "in fact, in reality," thus, "existing, but not necessarily legally ordained or morally right;" from facto, ablative of factum "deed, act" (see de + fact ).
2474 Etymology dictionary, p. default (v.).2
… a legal or pecuniary one, is from late 15c. Related: Defaulted; defaulting .
2475 Etymology dictionary, p. defendant (n.).2
… the legal sense "a party sued in a court of law," from Anglo-French, Old French defendant (Modern French défendant ), noun use of present participle of defendre …
2476 Etymology dictionary, p. deforestation (n.).2
… a legal term for the change in definition of a parcel of land from "forest" to something else.
2477 Etymology dictionary, p. deforest (v.).2
… the legal status of a forest" (mid-15c., from Old French).
2478 Etymology dictionary, p. demand (v.).3
Meaning "ask for with insistence or urgency" is from early 15c., from Anglo-French legal use ("to ask for as a right"). Meaning "require as necessary or useful" is by 1748. Related: Demanded; demanding .
2479 Etymology dictionary, p. demesne (n.).3
Re-spelled by Anglo-French legal scribes under influence of Old French mesnie "household" (and the concept of a demesne as "land attached to a mansion") and their fondness for inserting -s- before -n-. Essentially the same word as domain .
2480 Etymology dictionary, p. demur (v.).3
… a legal sense attested from the 1620s: "admit provisionally the facts of the opponent's proceeding but deny he is entitled to legal relief," a verb from demurrer …