Adjacent Words

Assize definitions

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Webster's 1828 Dictionary

ASSI'ZE,
ASSI'ZED, pp. Regulated in weight, measure or price, by an assize or ordinance.

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

n
1: the regulation of weights and measures of articles offered for sale
2: an ancient writ issued by a court of assize to the sheriff for the recovery of property

Merriam Webster's

noun Etymology: Middle English assise, from Anglo-French, session, legal action, from asseer, asseoir to seat, from Vulgar Latin *assed?re, from Latin assid?re to sit beside, assist in the office of a judge, from ad- + sed?re to sit — more at sit Date: 14th century 1. a. a judicial inquest b. an action to be decided by such an inquest, the writ for instituting it, or the verdict or finding rendered by the jury 2. a. the former periodical sessions of the superior courts in English counties for trial of civil and criminal cases — usually used in plural b. the time or place of holding such a court, the court itself, or a session of it — usually used in plural

Oxford Reference Dictionary

n. (usu. in pl.) hist. a court sitting at intervals in each county of England and Wales to administer the civil and criminal law. Usage: In 1972 the civil jurisdiction of assizes was transferred to the High Court and the criminal jurisdiction to the Crown Court. Etymology: ME f. OF as(s)ise, fem. past part. of aseeir sit at, f. L assidere: cf. ASSESS

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Assize As*size", n. [OE. assise, asise, OF. assise, F. assises, assembly of judges, the decree pronounced by them, tax, impost, fr. assis, assise, p. p. of asseoir, fr. L. assid?re to sit by; ad + sed[=e]re to sit. See Sit, Size, and cf. Excise, Assess.] 1. An assembly of knights and other substantial men, with a bailiff or justice, in a certain place and at a certain time, for public business. [Obs.] 2. (Law) (a) A special kind of jury or inquest. (b) A kind of writ or real action. (c) A verdict or finding of a jury upon such writ. (d) A statute or ordinance in general. Specifically: (1) A statute regulating the weight, measure, and proportions of ingredients and the price of articles sold in the market; as, the assize of bread and other provisions; (2) A statute fixing the standard of weights and measures. (e) Anything fixed or reduced to a certainty in point of time, number, quantity, quality, weight, measure, etc.; as, rent of assize. --Glanvill. --Spelman. --Cowell. --Blackstone. --Tomlins. --Burrill. Note: [This term is not now used in England in the sense of a writ or real action, and seldom of a jury of any kind, but in Scotch practice it is still technically applied to the jury in criminal cases. --Stephen. --Burrill. --Erskine.] (f) A court, the sitting or session of a court, for the trial of processes, whether civil or criminal, by a judge and jury. --Blackstone. --Wharton. --Encyc. Brit. (g) The periodical sessions of the judges of the superior courts in every county of England for the purpose of administering justice in the trial and determination of civil and criminal cases; -- usually in the plural. --Brande. --Wharton. --Craig. --Burrill. (h) The time or place of holding the court of assize; -- generally in the plural, assizes. 3. Measure; dimension; size. [In this sense now corrupted into size.] An hundred cubits high by just assize. --Spenser. [Formerly written, as in French, assise.]

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Assize As*size", v. t. [imp. & p. p. Assized; p. pr. & vb. n. Assizing.] [From Assize, n.: cf. LL. assisare to decree in assize. Cf. Asses, v.] 1. To assess; to value; to rate. [Obs.] --Gower. 2. To fix the weight, measure, or price of, by an ordinance or regulation of authority. [Obs.]