Speechless; dumb; that cannot or will not speak. In English criminal law, a prisoner is said to stand mute when, being arraigned for treason or felony, he either makes no answer at all, or answers foreign to the purpose or with such matter as is not allowable, and will not answer otherwise, or, upon having pleaded not guilty, refuses to put himself upon the country. 4 Bl. Comm. … [Read more...]

Lat. In the law of bailments. A loan for consumption; a loan of chattels, upon an agreement that the borrower may consume them, returning to the lender an equivalent in kind and quantity. Story, Bailm. … [Read more...]

As applied to written documents, such as wills, court records, and the like, this term means rendering the document Imperfect by the subtraction from it of some essential part, as, by cutting, tearing, burning, or erasure, but without totally destroying it. See Woodflll y. Patton, 76 Ind. 583, 40 Am. Rep. 269. In criminal law. The depriving a man of the use of any of those … [Read more...]

Monastic habitation; perhaps the part of a monastery set apart for purposes of hospitality, or as a sanctuary for criminals. Anc. Inst Eug. … [Read more...]

Insubordinate; disposed to mutiny; tending to incite or encourage mutiny. … [Read more...]