Next time I will show you how I am using this Glossary in my family history
Website.

 

Nihil Decit - Latin: "he said nothing". It is the failing of the defendant
to put in a plea or answer to the plaintiff's declaration by the day
assigned. In such case, judgment is granted against the defendant, as "he
said nothing" as to why the court should not act.

 

Non Est Inventus - The sheriff's return ( reply ) to a writ requiring him to
arrest the person of the defendant which signifies that the defendant is not
to be found within his jurisdiction ( bailiwick ). The sheriff's return
reply abbreviated: N.E.I.

 

Oyer and Terminer - from Norman / French: "oyer et terminer" - to hear and
to determine. A commission, or writ directing the holding of a court to try
offenses.

 

Scire facias - A judicial writ founded on some matter of record such as a
judgment or a recognizance and requiring the person against whom it is
brought to show cause why the party bringing it should not have advantage of
such record. The name designates both the writ and the proceeding. Writ is
the old English term for a judicial order.

 

Specialty - a writing "sealed and delivered" which is given as a security
for the payment of a debt, in which such debt is particularly specified.

 

Xtian - Christian; as in "To All Xtian People" or "Xtian Williams".

 


To subscribe, change options, or unsubscribe, please see the instructions at
http://listlva.lib.va.us/archives/va-roots.html