Definition
A perte is a Law French phrase meaning "to lose." It appears in historical legal texts primarily in two contexts: (1) as a standalone term signifying loss or forfeiture, and (2) as part of the paired phrase a perte e a gayne — "to lose and to gain" — used in medieval English legal writing to describe the full range of risk or stake a party assumes in a transaction or proceeding.
The phrase also appears in close proximity to the Latin maxim a piratis et latronibus capta dominium non mutant — "things taken or captured by pirates and robbers do not change their ownership" — a principle of the law of nations establishing that piratical capture conveys no title. This maxim is distinct from a perte itself but is associated with it in the source literature.
Common Confusion
A perte (Law French: to lose) should not be confused with the Latin a piratis et latronibus capta dominium non mutant, which Burrill treats in the same passage. The two are related only by proximity in the sources. A perte concerns the concept of loss generally; the Latin maxim is a specific rule of international law governing piratical capture and title. Researchers encountering either phrase in a historical text should verify which principle the author is invoking.
Why It Matters in Research
A perte is encountered almost exclusively in medieval and early modern English legal sources, particularly in treatises written in or drawing on Law French. Researchers working in plea rolls, Year Books, or feudal tenancy records may encounter a perte e a gayne as a formulaic expression describing mutual risk — the full exposure of a party to both loss and gain under an agreement or wager of law.
The more practically significant research issue arises from Burrill's placement of the piracy maxim immediately after the a perte entry. This editorial clustering means that searches for a perte in digitized historical sources may surface materials that are actually about the law of prize, piracy, and recapture — subjects that belong to an entirely different doctrinal area. Researchers should read surrounding context carefully before concluding that a source treats either concept specifically.
The piracy maxim itself — a piratis et latronibus capta dominium non mutant — is a substantive principle of the law of nations with a traceable doctrinal history. Bynkershoek's Quaestiones Juris Publici (Book 1, Chapter 17) and Kent's Commentaries on American Law (Volume 1) both address it in the context of whether recaptors acquire rights against original owners. The rule is that they do not: piratical capture is legally void as a transfer of title, and no recaptor can claim rights derivable from such a capture in prejudice of the original owner. This rule distinguished piracy from lawful prize, where capture by a belligerent under a commission of war could effect a change of ownership.
Corpus researchers should be aware that Law French terms like a perte frequently appear without translation or gloss in pre-nineteenth-century sources, and that Burrill's definitions, while reliable for orientation, are brief. For richer treatment of the feudal and procedural contexts in which a perte e a gayne operated, Brittonis Tractatus de Legibus (Fet. Ass.) — the source Burrill cites — is the primary reference.
Historical Dictionary Support
Burrill is the principal historical dictionary source for this term. His entry is concise: he translates a perte as "to lose," glosses a perte e a gayne as "to lose and to gain," and cites Britton's Fet. Ass. § 64 as authority. He then transitions immediately to the Latin piracy maxim, citing Bynkershoek and Kent without further elaboration on a perte itself.
No other major historical legal dictionaries — not Jacob's Law Dictionary, not Tomlin's, not Black's early editions — provide materially richer entries for this term. This is consistent with its character as a formulaic Law French phrase rather than a term with a contested doctrinal history. The absence of extended treatment across dictionaries signals that researchers should look to the primary sources (Britton, the Year Books) rather than the lexicographic tradition for substantive guidance.
Bynkershoek's treatment of the piracy maxim, while cited by Burrill in this entry, is properly a source for international law of prize rather than for a perte as a term of art.
Jurisdictional Note
A perte is a term of historical English law with no active jurisdictional application in modern common law systems. The piracy maxim associated with it in the source literature belongs to the law of nations and was received into American law through Kent and early federal admiralty doctrine.