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Meaning of ASSIZE

Pronunciation:  u'sIz

WordNet Dictionary
 
 Definition: 
  1. [n]  an ancient writ issued by a court of assize to the sheriff for the recovery of property
  2. [n]  the regulation of weights and measures of articles offered for sale
 
 Websites: 
 
 See Also: judicial writ, ordinance, regulation, writ

 

 

Webster's 1913 Dictionary
 
 Definition: 
  1. \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}.]
    
  2. \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.]
    
 

 

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