A purpresture may be defined as an inclosure by a private party of a part of that which belongs to and ought to be open and free to the enjoyment of the public at large. It is not necessarily a public nuisance. A public nuisance must be something which subjects the public to some degree of inconvenience or annoyance; but a purpresture may exist without putting the public to any … [Read more...]

L. Fr, A close or inclosure ; as also the whole compass of a manor. … [Read more...]

A term used in heraldry; the color commonly called "purple," expressed in engravings by lines in bend sinister. In the arms of princes It was formerly called "mercury," and in those of peers "amethyst". … [Read more...]

In criminal law. Any pain, penalty, suffering, or confinement inflicted upon a person by the authority of the law and the judgment and sentence of a court, for some crime or offense committed by him, or for his omission of a duty enjoined by law. Cruel and unusual punishment. Such punishment as would amount to torture or bar-arity, and any cruel and degrading punishment not … [Read more...]

Absolute; complete; simple; unmixed ; unqualified; free from conditions or restrictions; as in the phrases pure charity, pure debt, pure obligation, pure plea, pure villenage, as to which see the nouns. … [Read more...]