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mortmain
mortmain [Fr.,=dead hand], ownership of land by a perpetual corporation . The term originally denoted tenure (see tenure , in law) by a religious corporation, but today it includes ownership by charitable and business corporations. In the Middle Ages the church acquired, by purchase and gift, an ...
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fine
fine 1 In criminal law, sum of money exacted by a lawful tribunal as punishment for a crime. In the case of misdemeanors and minor infractions of the law, convicted persons ordinarily have the alternative of paying a fine or undergoing a short term of imprisonment. This practice has been condemne...
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property
property rights to the enjoyment of things of economic value, whether the enjoyment is exclusive or shared, present or prospective. The rightful possession of such rights is called ownership. Ownership necessarily is supported by correlative rights to exclude others from enjoyment. By extension o...
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eminent domain
eminent domain the right of a government to force the owner of private property sell it if it is needed for a public use. The right is based on the doctrine that a sovereign state has dominion over all lands and buildings within its borders, which has its origins in the landholding system under fe...
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Chamberlain's Men
Chamberlain's Men Elizabethan theatrical company for which Shakespeare, a joint owner of the company, wrote his plays and served as actor. Organized in 1594, they performed at the Globe and at the Blackfriars theaters. Under the patronage of James I they became c.1603 the King's Men. The members sh...
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warrant
warrant in law, written order by an official of a court directed to an officer. The search warrant and the warrant of arrest are the most frequently used types. Warrants of attachment order the seizure of a defendant's goods pending trial or judicial determination of ownership and in certain ot...
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land
land in law, any ground, soil, or earth regarded as the subject of ownership, including trees, water, buildings added by humans, the air above, and the earth below. Private ownership of land does not exist in groups that live by hunting, fishing, or herding; e.g., in pre-Columbian times in America,...
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capitalism
capitalism economic system based on private ownership of the means of production, in which personal profit can be acquired through investment of capital and employment of labor. Capitalism is grounded in the concept of free enterprise, which argues that government intervention in the economy should...
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public utility
public utility industry required by law to render adequate service in its field at reasonable prices to all who apply for it. Public utilities frequently operate as monopolies in their market. In the United States, public utilities are most commonly involved in the business of supplying consumers w...
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fugitive slave laws
fugitive slave laws in U.S. history, the federal acts of 1793 and 1850 providing for the return between states of escaped black slaves. Similar laws existing in both North and South in colonial days applied also to white indentured servants and to Native American slaves. As slavery was abolished in...
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