Nihil

Concept of “Nihil, Nil”

Traditional meaning of nihil, nil in English (with some legal use of this latin concept in England and the United States in the XIX Century) [1]: (in Latin) Nothing; not. Nihil aliud potest rex quam quod de jure potest: the King can do nothing else than what he can do by law. Nil capiat per breve (that he take nothing by his writ): words of judgment for the defendant on an issue on a plea in bar or abatement. Nil debet (he owes nothing): the general issue in debt on a simple contract; see 3rd Book (“Of Private Wrongs”), Blackstone’s Commentaries on the Laws of England 305. Nil dicit (he says nothing): words in a judgment against the defendant for default in failing to answer; see 3rd Book (“Of Private Wrongs”), Blackstone’s Commentaries on the Laws of England 296, 397. Nihil consensui tam contrarium est quam vis atque metus: nothing is so unlike consent as force and fear. Nihil facit error nominis cum de corpore constat: an error in the name has no effect when it is clear as to the person meant. Nihil habet (he has nothing): the name of a return made by a sheriff upon a scire facias, or other writ, which he has been unable to serve. Nil habuit in tenementis (he had nothing in the tenements): a plea in an action of debt upon a lease indented, setting up that the person claiming to be landlord had no title. Nihil perfectum est dum aliquid restat agendum: nothing is perfect while anything remains to be done. Nihil praescribitur nisi quod possidetur: there can be no prescription in that which is not possessed. Nihil tam conveniens est naturali aequitati, quam voluntatem domini volentis rem suam in alium transferre, ratam haberi: there is nothing so consistent with natural equity as to hold good the wish of an owner desiring to transfer his property to another. Nihil tam naturale, etc.: see NATURALE.

Resources

Notes and References

1. Based on A Concise Law Dictionary of Words, Phrases and Maxims, “Nihil, Nil”, Boston: Little, Brown, and Company, 1911, United States. It is also called the Stimson’s Law dictionary. This term and/or definition may be absolete.

See Also