Legal Definition and Related Resources of Month

Ordinarily, the term means calendar month, which consists unequally of thirty or thirty-one days, except February, which consists of twenty-eight and in leap year of twenty-nine. However, where it is not otherwise defined by statute , the term would be construed at common law as a lunar month of twenty-eight days. Frequently, has also been construed as relating to solar month , consisting of thirty days.

A space of time variously computed, as it is applied to astronomical, civil or solar, or lunar months. The astronomical month contains onetwelfth part of the time employed by the sun in going through the zodiac. In law, when a month simply is mentioned, it is never understood to mean an astronomical month. The civil, solar or calendar month is that which agrees with the Gregorian cal-> endar; and these months are known by the names of January, February, March, etc. They are composed of unequal portions of time. There are seven of thirty-one days each, four of thirty, and one which is sometimes composed of twenty-eight days, and in leap years of twenty-nine. The lunar month consists of twenty-eight days. By the law of England, a month means ordinarily, in common contracts, as in leases, a lunar month. A contract, therefore, made for a lease of land for twelve months would mean a lease for forty-eight weeks only. 2 Bl. Comm. 141; 6 Coke, 62; 6Term R. 224; 1 Maule & S. Ill; 1 Bing. 307. A distinction has been made between “twelve months” and “a twelve-months.” The latter has been held to mean a year. 6 Coke, 61. But in mercantile contracts in England, and for any purpose in the United States, a month simply signifies a calendar month. Chit. Bills, 406; 3 Brod. & B. 187; 1 Maule & S. Ill; Story, Bills, § 143; Story, Partn. § 213; 2 Mass. 170; 4 Mass. 460; 6 Watts & S, (Pa.) 179; 1 Johns. Cas. (N. Y.) 99; 4 Wend. (N. Y.) 512; 15 Johns. (N. Y.) 358; 2 Cow. (N. Y.) 518, 605; 2 Dall. (Pa.) 302; 4 Dall. (Pa.) 143; 4 Mass. 461; 4 Bibb (Ky.) 105, which ends on the corresponding day in the month succeeding its beginning, less one day. 279 111. 401. In England, in the ecclesiastical law, months are computed by the calendar. 3 Burrows, 1455; 1 Maule & S. 111. Monument, a thing intended to transmit to posterity the memory of some one. A tomb where a dead body has been deposited. In this sense it differs from a “cenotaph,” which is an empty tomb. Dig. 11. 7. 2. 6; Id. 11. 7. 2. 42. A permanent landmark, whether natural or artificial, established for the purpose of indicating a boundary.

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Month in Historical Law

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Calends, , , Inclusive, Leasehold, Period, Solar Month, , .

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This definition of Month is based on the The Cyclopedic Law Dictionary . This entry needs to be proofread.

Vocabularies (Semantic Web Information)

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Meaning of Month in the Past

Among the Greeks and Romans the months were Iunar and probably the mode of computation adopted in the English law has been adopted from the codes of these countries. Clef des Lois Rom. mot Mois.[1]

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Notes and References

1. Partialy, this information about month is based on the Bouvier´s Law Dictionary, 1848 edition. There is a list of terms of the Bouvier´s Law Dictionary, including month.

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