The name of an instrument granted by the government to convey a right to the patentee; as, a patent for a tract of land; or to secure to him a right which he already possesses, as a patent for a new invention or discovery; Letters patent are a matter of record. They are so called because they are not sealed up, but are granted open. Vide Patent. … [Read more...]

Lat. light; slight; trifling. Levis culpa, slight fault or neglect. Levis sima culpa, the slightest neglect. Levis no ta, a slight mark or brand. See Brand v. Schenectady & T. R. Co., 8 Barb. (N. Y.) 378. … [Read more...]

international law. A written instrument addressed by the sovereign or chief magistrate of a state, to the sovereign or state to whom a public minister is sent, certifying his appointment as such, and the general objects of his mission, and requesting that full faith and credit may be given to what he shall do and say ou the part of his court. 2. When it is given to an … [Read more...]

A kind of commission from a judge authorizing and requesting a judge of another jurisdiction to examine a witness. A letter rogatory is an instrument sent in the name and by the authority of a judge or court to another, requesting the latter to cause to be examined, upon interrogatories filed in a cause depending before the former, a witness who is within the jurisdiction of … [Read more...]

Degrees of kindred within which persons are prohibited to marry. They are set forth in the eighteenth chapter of Leviticus. … [Read more...]