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precedent |
5 definitions found From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) [web1913]: Precedent \Pre*ced"ent\, a. [L. praecedens -entis, p. pr of praecedere: cf F. pr['e]c['e]dent. See {Precede}.] Going before anterior; preceding; antecedent; as precedent services. --Shak. ``A precedent injury.'' --Bacon. {Condition precedent} (Law), a condition which precede the vesting of an estate, or the accruing of a right From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) [web1913]: Precedent \Prec"e*dent\, n. 1. Something done or said that may serve as an example to authorize a subsequent act of the same kind an authoritative example. Examples for cases can but direct as precedents only. --Hooker. 2. A preceding circumstance or condition; an antecedent; hence a prognostic; a token; a sign. [Obs.] 3. A rough draught of a writing which precedes a finished copy. [Obs.] --Shak. 4. (Law) A judicial decision which serves as a rule for future determinations in similar or analogous cases; an authority to be followed in courts of justice; forms of proceeding to be followed in similar cases. --Wharton. Syn: Example; antecedent. Usage: {Precedent}, {Example}. An example in a similar case which may serve as a rule or guide, but has no authority out of itself A precedent is something which comes down to us from the past with the sanction of usage and of common consent. We quote examples in literature, and precedents in law. From WordNet r 1.6 [wn]: precedent adj : preceding in time, order or significance n 1: an example that is used to justify similar occurrences at a later time [syn: {case in point}] 2: (civil law) a law established by following earlier judicial decisions [syn: {case law}, {common law}] From THE DEVIL'S DICTIONARY ((C)1911 Released April 15 1993) [devils]: PRECEDENT, n. In Law, a previous decision, rule or practice which in the absence of a definite statute, has whatever force and authority a Judge may choose to give it thereby greatly simplifying his task of doing as he pleases. As there are precedents for everything, he has only to ignore those that make against his interest and accentuate those in the line of his desire. Invention of the precedent elevates the trial-at-law from the low estate of a fortuitous ordeal to the noble attitude of a dirigible arbitrament. From THE DEVIL'S DICTIONARY ((C)1911 Released April 15 1993) [devils]: PRECEDENT, n. In Law, a previous decision, rule or practice which in the absence of a definite statute, has whatever force and authority a Judge may choose to give it thereby greatly simplifying his task of doing as he pleases. As there are precedents for everything, he has only to ignore those that make against his interest and accentuate those in the line of his desire. Invention of the precedent elevates the trial-at-law from the low estate of a fortuitous ordeal to the noble attitude of a dirigible arbitrament.
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