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UVU LEGL 3890 Latin
NALA Latin legal vocabulary list
| Question | Answer |
|---|---|
| a fortiori | with stronger reason |
| a priori | from what goes before; from the cause to the effect |
| ab initio | from the beginning |
| actiones in personam | personal actions |
| ad curiam | before the court, to the court |
| ad damnum clause | to the damage, clause of complaint which states plaintiff's monetary loss |
| ad faciendum | to do |
| ad hoc | for this purpose, for this occasion |
| ad litem | for the suit; for the litigation |
| ad rem | to the thing at hand |
| ad valorem | according to the value |
| adversus | against |
| aggregatio menium | meeting of minds (relates to formation of contracts) |
| alias dictus | otherwise called, also known as (as in an assumed name) |
| alibi | in another place, elsewhere |
| aliunde | from another place, from without (as in evidence outside the document) |
| alter ego | the other self |
| amicus curiae | friend of the court |
| animo | with intention, disposition, design, will |
| ante litem motam | before suit brought, before litigation is filed |
| arguendo | in the course of the argument, for the sake of argument |
| assumpsit | he undertook, he promised |
| bona fide | good faith |
| capias | take, arrest |
| capita | persons, heads |
| causa mortis | by reason of death |
| caveat | beware, a warning |
| caveat emptor | let the buyer beware |
| certiorari | send the pleadings up |
| cestui | beneficiaries (pronounced "setty") |
| cestui que trust | beneficiaries of the trust |
| circa | in the area of, about, concerning |
| compos mentis | of sound mind |
| consortium | union of lots or chances; conjugal fellowship of husband and wife |
| contra | against |
| coram nobis | before us ourselves |
| corpus | body |
| corpus delicti | body of the offense; essence of the crime |
| cum testamento annexo | with the will annexed |
| datum (pl. data) | 1. a thing given; information; 2. a date |
| de facto | in fact, in deed, actually |
| de jure | of right, lawful |
| de novo | anew, afresh |
| de son tort | of his own wrong |
| dies non | not a day |
| duces tecum | bring with you (as in subpoenaed person must appear and bring records) |
| dum bene se gesserit | while he shall conduct himself, during good behavior |
| e converso | conversely, on the other hand |
| en banc | in the bench, all judges present |
| eo instanti | upon the instant |
| erratum (pl. errata) | error |
| et alii | and others |
| et sequentia | and as follows |
| et ux | and wife |
| et vir | and husband |
| ex delicto | (arising) from a tort |
| ex gratia | as a matter of favor |
| ex officio | from office, by virtue of his office |
| ex parte | one side only, by or for one party only |
| ex post facto | after the fact |
| facto | in fact, in or by the law |
| felonice | feloniously |
| fiat | let it be done, a short order that a thing be done |
| fieri | to be made up, to become |
| fieri facias | cause to be made (writ directing sheriff to reduce judgment debtor's property to money [sell it] for the amount of the judgment) |
| flagrante delicto | in the very act of committing the crime |
| forum non conveniens | discretionary power of a court to decline jurisdiction over a case when the court believes it should be tried elsewhere for convenience of parties and witnesses |
| gravis | serious, of importance |
| habeas corpus | you have the body (writ commanding custodian to produce person) |
| habendum clause | that part of deed which begins "to have and to hold"; defines extent of ownership |
| honorarium | honorary fee or gift; compensation of gratitude |
| idem | the same as above |
| idem sonans | having the same sound (sounding alike but spelled differently) |
| in curia | in court |
| in esse | in being, existence |
| in forma pauperis | permission given to a poor person to sue without liability for court costs |
| infra | beneath, below |
| in limine | at the beginning; threshold |
| in loco parentis | in place of a parent, one charged with a parent's rights and obligations |
| in pari delicto | in equal fault |
| in personam | personally, against the person |
| in praesenti | at once, now |
| in re | in the matter |
| in rem | proceedings against a thing, distinguished from those against a person |
| in specie | in the same or in similar form |
| instanter | immediately |
| inter alia, inter alios | among other things, between other persons |
| inter se | among themselves |
| inter vivos | between the living, from one person to another |
| in toto | in the whole, completely |
| in transitu | in transit |
| intra | within, inside |
| ipse dixit | he himself said (it), as an assertion made but not proved |
| a fortiori | with stronger reason |
| a priori | from what goes before; from the cause to the effect |
| ab initio | from the beginning |
| actiones in personam | personal actions |
| ad curiam | before the court, to the court |
| ad damnum clause | to the damage, clause of complaint which states plaintiff's monetary loss |
| ad faciendum | to do |
| ad hoc | for this purpose, for this occasion |
| ad litem | for the suit; for the litigation |
| ad rem | to the thing at hand |
| ad valorem | according to the value |
| adversus | against |
| aggregatio menium | meeting of minds (relates to formation of contracts) |
| alias dictus | otherwise called, also known as (as in an assumed name) |
| alibi | in another place, elsewhere |
| aliunde | from another place, from without (as in evidence outside the document) |
| alter ego | the other self |
| amicus curiae | friend of the court |
| animo | with intention, disposition, design, will |
| ante litem motam | before suit brought, before litigation is filed |
| arguendo | in the course of the argument, for the sake of argument |
| assumpsit | he undertook, he promised |
| bona fide | good faith |
| capias | take, arrest |
| capita | persons, heads |
| causa mortis | by reason of death |
| caveat | beware, a warning |
| caveat emptor | let the buyer beware |
| certiorari | send the pleadings up |
| cestui | beneficiaries (pronounced "setty") |
| cestui que trust | beneficiaries of the trust |
| circa | in the area of, about, concerning |
| compos mentis | of sound mind |
| consortium | union of lots or chances; conjugal fellowship of husband and wife |
| contra | against |
| coram nobis | before us ourselves |
| corpus | body |
| corpus delicti | body of the offense; essence of the crime |
| cum testamento annexo | with the will annexed |
| datum (pl. data) | 1. a thing given; information; 2. a date |
| de facto | in fact, in deed, actually |
| de jure | of right, lawful |
| de novo | anew, afresh |
| de son tort | of his own wrong |
| dies non | not a day |
| duces tecum | bring with you (as in subpoenaed person must appear and bring records) |
| dum bene se gesserit | while he shall conduct himself, during good behavior |
| e converso | conversely, on the other hand |
| en banc | in the bench, all judges present |
| eo instanti | upon the instant |
| erratum (pl. errata) | error |
| et alii | and others |
| et sequentia | and as follows |
| et ux | and wife |
| et vir | and husband |
| ex delicto | (arising) from a tort |
| ex gratia | as a matter of favor |
| ex officio | from office, by virtue of his office |
| ex parte | one side only, by or for one party only |
| ex post facto | after the fact |
| facto | in fact, in or by the law |
| felonice | feloniously |
| fiat | let it be done, a short order that a thing be done |
| fieri | to be made up, to become |
| fieri facias | cause to be made (writ directing sheriff to reduce judgment debtor's property to money [sell it] for the amount of the judgment) |
| flagrante delicto | in the very act of committing the crime |
| forum non conveniens | discretionary power of a court to decline jurisdiction over a case when the court believes it should be tried elsewhere for convenience of parties and witnesses |
| gravis | serious, of importance |
| habeas corpus | you have the body (writ commanding custodian to produce person) |
| habendum clause | that part of deed which begins "to have and to hold"; defines extent of ownership |
| honorarium | honorary fee or gift; compensation of gratitude |
| idem | the same as above |
| idem sonans | having the same sound (sounding alike but spelled differently) |
| in curia | in court |
| in esse | in being, existence |
| in forma pauperis | permission given to a poor person to sue without liability for court costs |
| infra | beneath, below |
| in limine | at the beginning; threshold |
| in loco parentis | in place of a parent, one charged with a parent's rights and obligations |
| in pari delicto | in equal fault |
| in personam | personally, against the person |
| in praesenti | at once, now |
| in re | in the matter |
| in rem | proceedings against a thing, distinguished from those against a person |
| in specie | in the same or in similar form |
| instanter | immediately |
| inter alia, inter alios | among other things, between other persons |
| inter se | among themselves |
| inter vivos | between the living, from one person to another |
| in toto | in the whole, completely |
| in transitu | in transit |
| intra | within, inside |
| ipse dixit | he himself said (it), as an assertion made but not proved |
| ipso facto | by the fact itself |
| ita est | so it is |
| jura personarum | right of a person, rights of persons |
| jura rerum | rights of things |
| jure divino | by divine right |
| jure uxoris | in his wife's right |
| jus (pl. jura) | law; right; laws collectively |
| jus ad rem | a right to a thing |
| jus commune | the common law, the common right |
| jus gentium | the law of nations, international law |
| jus habendi | the right to have a thing |
| jus tertii | the right of a third party; the rights of another person |
| levari facias | cause to be levied, a writ of execution |
| lex | law |
| lex loci | law of the place where the cause of action arose |
| lis pendens | litigation pending |
| locus delicti | the place of the crime or of the tort |
| locus sigilli (L.S.) | the place for the seal |
| mala | bad |
| mala fides | bad faith |
| mala in se | wrong in itself, an act which is morally wrong |
| mala praxis | malpractice |
| mala prohibita | acts declared as criminal by statute, though not wrong in themselves |
| malo animo | with evil intent |
| mandamus | we command, a writ used to compel an official to perform an act which s/he is required to perform |
| manu forti | with a strong hand, forcible entry |
| mens rea | guilty mind, most crimes require the element of intent |
| nihil dicit | he says nothing, as in a default judgment against a defendant who does not raise a defense in the action |
| nil | nothing; of no account |
| nil debet | he owes nothing |
| nisi prius | unless before (used to distinguish the trial court from the appellate court) |
| nolle prosequi | unwilling to prosecute (a crime), prosecutor's discretion not to file charges in a particular case |
| nolo contendere | I will not contest it |
| non | not |
| non assumpsit | plea in defense; that he did not promise |
| non compos mentis | not of sound mind |
| non est factum | it is not his deed |
| non obstante | notwithstanding |
| non sequitur | it does not follow |
| nota bene (N.B.) | note well; take notice |
| nudum pactum | nude pact, bare agreement which lacks the consideration to form a valid contract |
| nul tort | no wrong done |
| nulla bona | no goods |
| nunc pro tunc | now for then, as in an order to correct clerical error in a previous order |
| obiter dictum | remark which is not central to the main issue |
| onus probandi | the burden of proof |
| opus (pl. opera) | work, labor |
| ore tenus | by word of mouth, orally |
| pari delicto | in equal guilt |
| pari passu | by equal progress, ratably, equitably, without preference |
| pater familias | father of the family |
| peculium | private property |
| pendens | pending |
| pendente lite | pending the suit, during litigation |
| per annum | annual, by the year |
| per capita | by the head, equally shared |
| per contra | in opposition |
| per curiam | by the court |
| per diem | by the day |
| per se | by itself, taken alone |
| per stirpes | by representation, by the roots or stocks for purposes of inheritance |
| post | after, later |
| post-factum | after the fact, after the even |
| post-obit | to take effect after death |
| praecipe | writ commanding a person to do some act or to appear and show cause why s/he should not do so; order of clerk of court to issue a summons or execution on judgment already rendered |
| prima facie | at first sight, on the face of it |
| pro bono | free of charge, without cost |
| pro forma | as a matter of form |
| pro hac vice | for this occasion |
| pro rata | according to the rate or proportion |
| pro se | appearing for oneself; personally |
| pro tanto | for so much, to that extent |
| pro tempore | for the time being, temporarily |
| prochein ami | next friend |
| publici juris | of public right |
| pur autre vie | for or during the life of another |
| quaere | question, doubt |
| quantum | how much, the amount |
| quare | wherefore |
| quare clausum fregit | breaking the close, trespass |
| quasi | as if, as if it were |
| quid pro quo | what for what, something for something |
| quo warranto | by what right or authority |
| res | thing, object, subject matter |
| res gestae | things done, excited utterance |
| res ipsa loquitur | the thing speaks for itself |
| res judicata | a thing (matter) adjudged |
| respondeat superior | let the master answer |
| scienter | knowledge, awareness |
| scilicet | to wit, that is to say, namely |
| scintilla | a spark, the least particle |
| scire facias | cause to know, give notice (writ used to revive a dormant/expired judgement) |
| secundum | according to |
| se defendendo | in self-defense |
| semper | always |
| seriatim | severally, separately |
| sic | thus, so, in such manner (indicates error in original, quoted material) |
| sigillum | a seal |
| sine | without |
| sine die | without a day, without a specific day assigned for a future meeting |
| sine qua non | that without which a thing cannot occur; indispensable condition or part |
| stare decisis | to abide by decided cases |
| status quo | state in which, present state |
| sua sponte | voluntarily, of his own will and motion |
| sub nomine | under the name of, in the name of, under the title of |
| sub silentio | under silence, without any notice being taken |
| sui generis | of its own kind or class, the only one of a kind, unique |
| sui juris | of his own right, having legal capacity to act for himself |
| supersedeas | superseding (as in the bond that accompanies a writ commanding a stay of proceedings pending appeal) |
| supra | above, cited in full above |
| tenere | to hold, to keep |
| terminus a quo | the starting point |
| ultra | beyond, in excess of, outside of |
| ultra vires | without power, beyond the powers of |
| venire facias | that you cause to come, a type of summons |
| versus | against |
| videlicet (viz.) | it is easy to see, that is to say, namely |
| vi et armis | by force and arms |
| vis-a-vis | one who (that which) is face to face with another |
| vivos | living |
| voir dire | to speak the truth, the process used to select jurors |