438 



THE CENTURY BOOK OF FACTS. 



Deposit. To place funds in a bank ; a sum deposited 

 at a certain time ; the amount on deposit at any given 

 time. 



Defalcation. A deduction, abatement, or diminu- 

 tion, as in a promissory note. 



Debt. What one owes to another. 



Delivery. To pass money or goods to another ; a giv- 

 ing. 



Demand. An asking by authority ; a claim by right. 



Depository. One to whom something is intrusted ; a 

 guardian. 



Deputy. One appointed to act for another ; a repre- 

 sentative. 



Disability. A legal incapacity to do an act. 



Disclaimer. A renunciation "by an executor or trus- 

 tee of the office imposed upon him, also a mode of de- 

 fense in equity, etc. 



Discovert. A term applied to a widow or unmarried 

 woman. 



Disfranchise. To take away from certain places or 

 persons any privilege, freedom, or liberty. 



Disseisin. A wrongful invasion of the possession of 

 another, and turning him out from the occupation of 

 his lands, either by force or surprise. 



Distress. The distraining or taking the effects of a 

 tenant, in order to satisfy the rent due to his landlord. 



Dishonor. To refuse to accept a draft, or to pay a 

 note of acceptance. 



Direct Evidence. Evidence which applies directly 

 to the fact to be proved. 



Discount. In mercantile transactions, a discount 

 means a deduction of a certain amount from the face of 

 a bill for cash. In banking, a discount means the de- 

 duction of a certain amount from the face value of a 

 note or bill, as a payment for allowing the holder of the 

 note the immediate use of the money ; the rate of dis- 

 count varies. 



Dividend. A portion allotted to stockholders in di- 

 viding the profits. 



Domicile. The domicile of a person is where he has 

 his permanent home. There are three sorts of domiciles 

 by birth, by choice, and by operation of law. 



Dower. A widow is entitled, at the death of her 

 husband, to a life interest in a third part of the estates 

 of inheritance of which her husband was seised, and 

 did not dispose of by deed or will. 



Dpmiciliated. A negotiable instrument payable in 

 a different place from that in which it is drawn is 

 domiciliated where payable. 



Donee. . One to whom a' gift is made or a bequest is 

 given. 



Donor. One who gives or bestows. 



Dormant. Not acting; a partner who takes no 

 share in the active business of the concern, but shares 

 in the gains or losses. 



Drop. In stocks or grain it is equivalent to a " break " 

 except that it may be due to wholly natural causes. 



Draft. A bill of exchange used for domestic pur- 

 poses. 



Drawback. Duty refunded on exported goods. 



Drawee. One on whom a draft is drawn ; the payor. 



Drawer. One who draws a bill or draft. 



Duress. Anything done under compulsion and 

 through unavoidable necessity. 



Dun. To press urgently the payment of a debt. 



Duty. A government tax paid on goods imported or 

 exported. 



Duplicate. A copy or transcript of anything. 



Easement. A convenience which one has in or over 

 the lands of another, as a way or a water course. 



Earnest. A pledge, like money deposited, affords 

 good grounds for reliance. 



.Effects. Goods or property of any kind. 



Ejectment. An action at law to recover the posses- 

 sion of lands. 



Elegit. A writ of execution under which all the 

 debtor's lands may be seized or extended, and held by 

 the judgment creditor until his judgment is satisfied. 



Embezzlement. The act of appropriating that 

 which is received in trust for another, which is a 

 criminal offense. 



Embargo. Prohibition of vessels from sailing. 



Embarrassment. Financial distress ; on the verge 

 of bankruptcy. 



Embassy. A public message or commission ; the 

 person by whom it is sent. 



Emporium. A commercial center. 



Enfeolf(To). The act of conveying an estate of free- 

 hold by deed of f eoffment. 



Enfranchisement. The admittance of a person 

 into a society or body politic. Enfranchisement of 

 copyholds is a conversion of copyholds into freehold 

 tenure. 



Engrossing. A style of writing, not now generally 

 used, for deeds, but still used for the probates of wills. 



Enrollment. The registering of deeds as required 

 by certain statutes; as, for instance, deeds conveying 

 lands to charitable uses. 



Entail. That inheritance whereof a man is seized to 

 him and the heirs of his body. Tail-general is where 

 lands and tenements are given to one, and the heirs of 

 his body generally. Tenant in Tail-special is where the 

 gift is restrained to certain heirs of the donee's body, as 

 male or female. 



Entry. A record of a business transaction; deposit- 

 ing of a ship's papers at custom house to procure license 

 to land goods. 



Endorse. To write one's name on the back of a 

 check, note, or draft. 



I .i| ii it :i!>li- Mortgage. The most familiar instance 

 is the deposit (either with or without a memorandum, 

 although it is better to have one) of the title deeds of 

 an estate by way of security, which constitutes an 

 equitable mortgage without the execution of any formal 

 mortgage deed. 



Equity of Redemption. The right which equity 

 gives to a mortgager of redeeming his estate after the 

 appointed time for payment has passed, and which right 

 can only be barred by a foreclosure. 



Equity. In law, qualifying or correcting the law in 

 extreme cases. 



Error. A writ of error is a commission to judges of 

 a superior court, by which they are authorized to ex- 

 amine the record upon which a judgment was given in 

 an inferior court, and to affirm, reverse, or vary the 

 same, according to law. 



Errors Excepted. A phrase inserted as a proviso, 

 that the person who renders a statement may have the 

 power of correcting any mistake that he may have com- 

 mitted. 



Escheat. Is where lands, for want of heirs, or from 

 forfeiture, escheat or fall back to the sovereign or lord 

 of the fee as the original grantor. 



Estate. The interest which a person has in lands, or 

 other property. 



Estoppel. 'Where a man is precluded in law from 

 alleging or denying a fact in consequence of his own 

 previous act, allegation, or denial to the contrary. 



Estreat. Where a recognizance becomes forfeited by 

 any of its conditions being broken, it is estreated ; that 

 is,' extracted from the record, and sent up to the Ex- 

 chequer, whence a process will issue to recover the pen- 

 alty. 



Evidence. Proof, either written or unwritten, of the 

 facts in issue in any legal proceeding. 



Excise. A tax or impost charge by government on 

 certain commodities. 



Execution. The act of putting the sentence of the 

 law into force. 



Executor. One appointed by a person's last will to 

 administer his personal estate. 



Exhibits. Documents, etc., produced in evidence, 

 and marked for the purpose of identification. 



Ex Offlcio. Anything done by virtue of an office. 

 An information filed by the attorney-general, by virtue 

 of his office, is called an Ex Officio-Information. 



Ex Parte. A statement is called ex parte where only 

 one of the parties gives an account of a transaction, in 

 which two or more are concerned. 



Ex Post Facto. An ex post facto law is a law made 

 purposely to restrain or punish an offense already com- 

 mitted. 



Extrajudicial. Any act done by a judge beyond his 

 authority, or any opinion expressed by him not strictly 

 pertinent to the" matter in issue before him. 



Exhaust Price. The point at which one's margins 

 will be exhausted. If trades are not re-margined they 

 are likely to be closed out by the broker at the exhaust 

 price, if 'it is reached by the market. 



Exchange. Act of bartering; a bill drawn for money : 

 a place where merchants meet; a difference between 

 the value of money in two places, or the premium and 

 discount arising from the purchase and sale of funds. 



Executory. Yet to be performed. 



Exports. Goods or produce carried abroad in con 



1X16 I*C6. 



Express. A special messenger ; a regular conveyance 

 for packages, etc- 



