Definition
A Latin adverbial phrase meaning "from another source," "from elsewhere," or "from outside." In legal usage, aliunde modifies evidence or proof that comes from a source external to the document or instrument under examination. The term appears most commonly in two recurring contexts:
1. Evidence aliunde in will construction: Extrinsic evidence introduced to explain an ambiguity appearing on the face of a will — that is, evidence coming from outside the will itself.
2. Evidence aliunde in verdict impeachment: A rule limiting or permitting inquiry into juror conduct based on whether the evidence of misconduct comes from a juror (generally excluded) or from an external source outside the jury room (sometimes admissible).
The term functions as a shorthand signal to courts and practitioners that the evidence in question does not arise from the instrument or proceeding itself, and that its admissibility is therefore governed by rules applicable to extrinsic proof.
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Common Language
Modern common usage (Wiktionary): "From another source; from elsewhere."
Historical common usage (Webster's 1913): "From another source; from elsewhere; as, a case proved aliunde; evidence aliunde."
The common and legal meanings are essentially identical in their literal content. What the common definitions cannot convey is the doctrinal weight the phrase carries in legal argument: aliunde signals a specific category of evidence subject to distinct admissibility rules. Encountering the word in a legal text is a prompt to ask not merely where evidence came from, but whether the governing rule permits that external source to be consulted at all.
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Why It Matters in Research
Aliunde is a term of art that appears sparingly in modern legal writing but with some frequency in nineteenth- and early twentieth-century opinions and treatises — particularly in probate, evidence, and jury-related materials. Researchers working with historical sources should watch for it as a marker pointing toward evidentiary disputes about will interpretation or jury impeachment, even when the surrounding context does not make the issue immediately obvious.
The phrase "evidence aliunde" in will cases connects to the broader law of latent versus patent ambiguity: whether a court may look beyond the four corners of a document at all, and if so, what sources qualify. Historical sources treat this distinction with varying rigor, and the permissibility of aliunde evidence shifted across jurisdictions and periods. An opinion declining to admit evidence aliunde is often resolving an ambiguity question, not merely a hearsay question.
In the jury impeachment context, aliunde takes on a different functional meaning. The "aliunde rule" — associated with common law jurisdictions — holds that a verdict may not be impeached by the testimony of jurors alone; some evidence from outside (aliunde) the jury is required to corroborate or establish the misconduct. This usage is distinct enough that researchers should confirm which context an authority is addressing before cross-applying its reasoning.
Because the term itself is Latin and non-technical in appearance, it is frequently omitted from keyword searches. Full-text corpus searching for "aliunde" in historical legal materials will surface a focused body of probate and evidence doctrine that subject-heading searches may miss.
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Historical Dictionary Support
The historical dictionaries are in agreement on the core definition: aliunde means "from another source" or "from elsewhere," and its chief illustration is evidentiary — specifically, evidence introduced to explain a will's ambiguity from outside the will itself. Black's (both editions) and Rapalje & Lawrence make this concrete by pointing to will construction as the paradigm case. Burrill's entry is the sparest, citing Lord Ellenborough without elaborating a context.
Anderson's Dictionary of Law punts entirely, redirecting the reader to the entry for ALIUS, which is unhelpful for evidence purposes and reflects the limits of that dictionary's coverage of Latin adverbial phrases used as terms of art.
Rapalje & Lawrence adds a useful second illustration — "in construing a document, explanatory evidence which appears from some other source is said to appear aliunde" — which generalizes the principle beyond wills to document construction broadly. This framing is worth noting because it confirms the term's application was not wills-specific in practice, even if that is where it most frequently arose.
None of the historical dictionaries address the aliunde rule in the jury impeachment context. That usage developed through case law and treatise commentary rather than dictionary treatment, and researchers relying solely on these dictionary sources will not find it here.
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Encyclopedia Cross-Reference
See Law Mind Encyclopedia: Evidence (Extrinsic and Parol Evidence); Wills (Construction and Interpretation).
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