ACROSS

8 definitions found across Law Mind sources

ACROSSAuthored
The Law Mind • 900 words
Definition
A preposition used in legal instruments — particularly deeds, easements, and grants — to describe the path or course of a right of way or other conveyance over a parcel of land. When a right of way is granted "across" a tract, it denotes a complete traversal: entry at one boundary and exit at the opposite boundary, following a course that genuinely crosses the land from side to side. The word carries directional and spatial precision in property instruments that its casual English usage does not always convey.
Common Language
Modern common usage (Wiktionary): "To, toward, or from the far side of something that lies between two points of interest"; also used to mean "spanning" or "from one side to the other within a space being traversed." Historical common usage (Webster's 1913): "From side to side; athwart; crosswise, or in a direction opposed to the length; quite over; as, a bridge laid across a river." The gap between common and legal meaning is narrow but consequential. In everyday speech, "across" is loose enough to describe partial transit or movement in the general direction of something. In a property instrument, courts have treated the word as requiring genuine, complete traversal — entry on one side, exit on the other. A path that enters and exits on the same side of a lot is not a right of way "across" that lot, regardless of how far it penetrates the interior.
Common Confusion
"Across" is occasionally read as synonymous with "over" or "through" in casual drafting, but the terms are not interchangeable in property law. "Over" may describe an easement that crosses above the surface (such as an aerial line), while "through" may suggest passage within an enclosed space or structure. "Across" implies lateral traversal of an open parcel, entering and exiting at opposite or sufficiently distinct boundary points. Sloppy substitution among these terms in deeds has generated litigation over the permissible scope and route of easements.
Why It Matters in Research
The legal significance of "across" is almost entirely confined to easement and right-of-way disputes in property law, and it is a term that punches above its apparent weight in deed construction cases. Researchers working in historical deed records, land grant litigation, or easement scope disputes should note: The operative judicial construction — that "across" requires complete traversal and prohibits re-exit on the entry side — was established early and has remained stable. The two editions of Black's Law Dictionary present materially identical treatment, both anchored to the same underlying authority. The 2nd edition supplies the full citation: Comstock v. Van Deusen, 5 Pick. (Mass.) 163, and the supporting reference Brown v. Meady, 10 Me. 391, 25 Am. Dec. 248. Researchers citing this principle should trace to these cases directly rather than relying on the dictionary paraphrase alone. For corpus researchers: because "across" appears in Black's as a terminal sub-entry before the entry for ACT, it is easy to overlook in both print and digital indexes. Searches for easement scope or right-of-way construction may miss this definitional anchor unless the preposition itself is searched explicitly. The word also appears in regulatory and statutory contexts — "across state lines," "across jurisdictions," "uniformity across regimes" — where it carries its ordinary spatial or comparative meaning and no special legal definition applies. Researchers should be alert to context: the specialized property-law construction is relevant only in instrument-drafting and easement-scope settings.
Historical Dictionary Support
Both editions of Black's Law Dictionary handle "across" identically in substance, defining the term not abstractly but through a concrete limiting rule: a grantee of a right of way across a lot may not enter at one point and exit on the same side. The 1st edition cites "5 Pick. 163" and "10 Me. 391" without full party names. The 2nd edition supplies the complete citations — Comstock v. Van Deusen and Brown v. Meady — which is the more reliable form for research purposes. Neither edition provides a freestanding abstract definition of "across" as a preposition; instead, both fold the definition into the statement of the legal rule it generates. This is characteristic of the historical dictionaries' practical orientation: meaning is demonstrated through legal consequence rather than linguistic analysis. No other major historical legal dictionary in the Law Mind corpus assigns "across" a dedicated entry, making Black's the controlling historical authority here. Webster's 1913 and Wiktionary confirm that the common-language meaning is directionally similar but legally imprecise, which explains why courts found it necessary to fix the term's meaning through adjudication rather than treating it as self-evident.
Jurisdictional Note
The foundational cases are Massachusetts and Maine authority. The principle has been applied broadly across common-law jurisdictions in deed and easement construction, but the precise scope of "across" in a given instrument remains a question of local property law and the specific language of the grant. Researchers should not assume universal adoption without checking jurisdiction-specific deed construction rules.
Encyclopedia Cross-Reference
No Law Mind Encyclopedia entry focuses on easement construction or right-of-way grants where this definition would be directly operative. The matched entries — IP Remedies Across Regimes and Extreme Hardship Standard — use "across" in its ordinary comparative sense and are not relevant to this legal definition.
Related Terms
Easement; Right of Way; Grant; Deed; Traversal; Over; Through; Easement by Express Grant; Scope of Easement; Dominant Tenement; Servient Tenement
ACROSSmain
Black's Law Dictionary • 1891
Under a grant of a right of way across the plaintiff's lot of land, the grantee has not a right to enter at one place, go partly across, and then come out at another place on the same side of the lot. 5 Pick. 163. See 10 Me. 391. ACT, n. In its most general sense, this noun signifies something done voluntarily by a person; the exercise of an individual's pow- er; an effect produced in the external world by an exercise of the power of a person ob- jectively, prompted by intention, and proxi- mately caused by a motion of the will. In a more technical sense, it means something done voluntarily by a person, and of such a nature that certain legal consequences attach to it. Thus a grantor acknowledges the conveyance to be his "act and deed," the terms being syn- onymous. * АСТ
ACROSSmain
Black's Law Dictionary (2nd Ed.) • 1910
Under a grant of a right of way across the plaintiffs lot of land, the grantee has not a right to enter at one place, go partly across, and then come out at another place on the same side of the lot. Comstock v. Van Deusen, 5 Pick. (Mass.) 163. See Brown v. Meady, 10 Me. 391, 25 Am. Dec. 248. ACT, v. In Scotch practice. To do or perform judicially; to enter of record. Surety “acted in the Books of Adjournal.” 1 Broun, 4. ACT, n. In its most general sense, this noun signifies something done voluntarily by & person; the exercise of an individual’s power; an effect produced in the external world by an exercise of the power of a person objectively, prompted by intention, and proximately caused by a motion of the will. In a more technical sense, it means something done voluntarily by a person, and of such a nature that certain legal consequences . attach to it. Duncan v. Landis, 106 Fed. 839, 45 C. C. A. 666. Thus a grantor acknowledges the conveynnce to be his “act and deed,” the terms being synonymous. In the civil law. An act is a writing which states in a legal form that a thing has been said, done, or agreed. Merl. Repert. In practice. Anything done by a court and reduced to writing; a decree, judgment, resolve, rule, order, or other judicial proceeding. In Scotch law, the orders and decrees of a court, and in French and German law, all the records and documents in an action, are called “acts.” In legislation. A written law, formally ordained or passed by the legislative power of a state, called in England an “act of parliament,” and in the United States an “act of congress,” or of the “legislature ;” a stat: ute. People v. Tiphaine, 3 Parker, Cr. R. (N. Y.) 241; United States v. Smith, 27 Fed. Cas. 1167. Acts are either public or private. Public acts (also called general acts, or general statutes, or statutes at large) are those which relate to the community generally, or establish a universal rule for the governance of the whole body politic. Private acts (formerly called special, Co. Litt. 126a) are those which relate either to particular persons (personal! acts) or to particular places, (local acts.) or which operate only upon specified individuals or their private concerns. In Scotch practice. An abbreviation of actor, (proctor or advocate, especially for a plaintiff or pursuer,) used in records. “Act. A. Alt. B.” an abbreviation of Actor. A. Alter, B.; that is, for the pursuer or plaintiff, A., for the defender, B. 1 Broun, 336, note. —Act book. In Scotch practice. The minute book of a court. 1 Swin. 81l.—Act in pais. An act done or performed out of court, and not a matter of record. A deed or an assurance transacted between two or more private persons in the country, that is, according to the old common law, upon the very spot to be
ACROSSprep.
Websters Unabridged Dictionary (1913) • 1913
From side to side; athwart; crosswise, or in a direction opposed to the length; quite over; as, a bridge laid across a river. Dryden. To come across, to come upon or meet incidentally. Freeman. -- To go across the country, to go by a direct course across a region without following the roads.
ACROSSadv.
Websters Unabridged Dictionary (1913) • 1913
From side to side; crosswise; as, with arms folded across. Shak. Obliquely; athwart; amiss; awry. [Obs.] The squint-eyed Pharisees look across at all the actions of Christ. Bp. Hall.
acrossprep
Wiktionary (English) • 2026
Wiktionary contributorsCC BY-SA 4.0 • via Kaikki
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To, toward, or from the far side of (something that lies between two points of interest). | On the opposite side of (something that lies between two points of interest). | across from: on the opposite side, relative to something that lies between, from (a point of interest). | From one side to the other within (a space being traversed). | At or near the far end of (a space). | Spanning. | Throughout. | So as to intersect or pass through or over at an angle. | In possession of full, up-to-date information about; abreast of.
acrossadv
Wiktionary (English) • 2026
Wiktionary contributorsCC BY-SA 4.0 • via Kaikki
Extracted and formatted for display by Law Mind. Source link opens the current Wiktionary page and its contributor history; it is not a frozen copy of this extract.
From one side to the other. | On the other side. | In a particular direction. | Horizontally.
acrossnoun
Wiktionary (English) • 2026
Wiktionary contributorsCC BY-SA 4.0 • via Kaikki
Extracted and formatted for display by Law Mind. Source link opens the current Wiktionary page and its contributor history; it is not a frozen copy of this extract.
A word that runs horizontally in the completed puzzle grid or its associated clue.

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