Search for: legalism
2761 Etymology dictionary, p. process (n.).3
… 1570s. Legal sense of "course of action of a suit at law, the whole of the proceedings in any action at law" is attested from early 14c.; hence due process "fair treatment …
2762 Etymology dictionary, p. prohibition (n.).2
… , forbidding; legal prohibition," noun of action from past-participle stem of prohibere "hold back, restrain, hinder, prevent," from pro "away, forth" (see pro- ) + habere …
2763 Etymology dictionary, p. promisor (n.).2
"person who makes a promise," 1790, agent noun in Latin form from promise (v.). Apparently restricted to legal use; promiser, the native formation, in the general sense, is from mid-15c. Promisee is from 1733.
2764 Etymology dictionary, p. promissory (adj.).2
… .)). The legal promissory note, a signed document containing a written promise to pay a specified sum to certain persons, is recorded by 1670s.
2765 Etymology dictionary, p. proprietor (n.).2
… the legal right or exclusive title" to something, it is attested from 1640s. Related: Proprietorship .
2766 Etymology dictionary, p. prosecute (v.).2
… by legal process" is recorded from 1570s. The Latin verb in Old French became prosequer, vulgarly porsuir, which passed to English as pursue .
2767 Etymology dictionary, p. prosecution (n.).2
… meaning "legal action, the institution and carrying out of a suit at law" is from 1630s. Hence, transferred, "the party by whom legal proceedings are initiated …
2768 Etymology dictionary, p. prosecutor (n.).2
… specific legal sense of "one who brings a case in a court of law" is from 1620s; earlier such a person was a promoter (late 15c.). Related: Prosecutorial .
2769 Etymology dictionary, p. prothonotary (n.).3
… of legal language.
2770 Etymology dictionary, p. proven (adj.).2
"tried and proved," 1650s, adjective from alternative (strong) past participle, originally in Scottish legal use, of prove (v.). In this sense, Middle English had preved ("proved"), c. 1300.
2771 Etymology dictionary, p. proviso (n.).2
… in legal documents (mid-14c.), from Latin proviso "it being provided," ablative neuter of provisus, past participle of providere (see provide ). Related: Provisory …
2772 Etymology dictionary, p. punishable (adj.).2
early 15c., punysshable, of persons, "liable to legal punishment, deserving of being punished;" also of offenses or sins, from punish + -able. Related: Punishability .
2773 Etymology dictionary, p. purge (n.).2
… a legal court" (mid-15c.), a sense now obsolete even if the feeling persists.
2774 Etymology dictionary, p. purgery (n.).2
"bleaching room for sugar," where it is put to drain off its molasses and imperfections, 1847, from French purgerie (1838), from purger "to wash, clean; refine, purify" (see purge (v.)). For the legal word, see perjury .
2775 Etymology dictionary, p. purview (n.).2
… old legal documents, from Anglo-French purveu, Old French porveu (Modern French pourvu ) "provided," past participle of porveoir "to provide," from Latin providere …
2776 Etymology dictionary, p. putative (adj.).2
… , though legally invalid due to an impediment, was contracted in good faith by at least one party. Related: Putatively .
2777 Etymology dictionary, p. querent (n.).2
"an inquirer," 1590s, originally in astrology, from Latin quaerentem, present participle of quaerere (see query (v.)). Earlier in legal language, "a plaintiff, a complainant" (1727). Querist "one who asks questions" is by 1630s.
2778 Etymology dictionary, p. question (n.).2
… , problem; legal inquest, interrogation, torture," and directly from Latin quaestionem (nominative quaestio ) "a seeking, a questioning, inquiry, examining, judicial …
2779 Etymology dictionary, p. question (n.).3
Also in Middle English "verbal contention, debate; legal proceedings, litigation, accusation." Phrase a question of meaning "a dispute about" is from early 15c.
2780 Etymology dictionary, p. quibble (n.).2
… in legal writing supposedly gave it the association with trivial argument: "a word of frequent occurrence in legal documents ... hence associated with the …