ALLEGARE - The Law Mind Legal Dictionary

ALLEGAREAuthored

The Law Mind • 776 words

Definition

Latin legal term meaning to allege, to state, or to bring forward a claim or defense. In classical legal Latin, *allegare* carries the sense of laying something before a tribunal — presenting a fact, assertion, or legal position for the court's consideration. It appears most commonly in law dictionaries and historical legal texts as the root form underlying the English terms "allege" and "allegation," and as the verb embedded in the maxim *Allegans contraria non est audiendus* (one who alleges contradictory things is not to be heard).

The term is not itself a doctrine but a Latin verb that gives rise to several procedural and evidentiary principles. Its primary legal significance lies in that maxim, which expresses a rule against self-contradiction — a party or witness whose statements are internally inconsistent loses credibility and, in some formulations, standing to be heard at all.

Common Confusion

*Allegare* should not be confused with a legal conclusion that something has been proven. To allege is to assert; it carries no implication of truth or evidentiary support. The confusion between allegation and proof is a persistent one in lay reading of legal documents, and historical sources using *allegare* or its derivatives are no different — the term describes the act of placing something before the court, not establishing it.

The maxim *Allegans contraria non est audiendus* is also sometimes loosely conflated with judicial estoppel and equitable estoppel. These doctrines share the same underlying principle of consistency but operate differently: judicial estoppel addresses a party's inconsistent positions across proceedings; equitable estoppel addresses detrimental reliance; the maxim in its original formulation is broader and more rhetorical, used as a general credibility and fairness principle.

Why It Matters in Research

Researchers encountering *allegare* in historical sources are typically dealing with one of two things: a citation to the maxim *Allegans contraria non est audiendus*, or a general Latin apparatus in pleading texts where the verb describes the act of putting forward a legal position. Neither use is difficult to decode, but the maxim deserves careful attention because it travels under several related doctrines in English and American law.

The maxim itself connects to at least three distinct legal concepts depending on context: estoppel (a party cannot take inconsistent positions), witness credibility (a witness who contradicts himself is discredited), and the general prohibition on approbating and reprobating (a Scottish formulation that Anderson explicitly names). Researchers who find *allegans contraria* in an older source should look at the surrounding context before assuming which doctrine is being invoked. Burrill applies it to witnesses; Anderson connects it to estoppel and the Scottish approbate-and-reprobate rule. These are related but not identical legal tools.

Because *allegare* is a Latin root rather than a fixed technical term, it does not appear in statutory codes or modern case reporters under this spelling. Corpus searches for *allegare* will return almost exclusively historical materials — treatises, digest entries, and civil law sources. The operative English equivalents are "allege," "allegation," and "pleading," and the operative doctrines are estoppel and judicial admission.

Historical Dictionary Support

Burrill and Anderson agree on the core definition: to allege or state; to bring forward a claim or defense. Both anchor the term's legal utility in the maxim *Allegans contraria non est audiendus*, though they frame it differently. Burrill applies the maxim specifically to witness testimony and cites Coke's *Institutes* (4 Inst. 279) and Jenkins' *Centuries* (Jenk. Cent. 16) as authority. Anderson extends the application to party conduct more broadly, connecting it explicitly to estoppel and invoking the Scottish phrase "approbate and reprobate" as a parallel formulation. The gloss "a man shall not blow hot and cold" — a common law idiom Anderson includes — captures the equitable flavor of the principle: consistency is required of those who invoke legal processes.

Neither dictionary treats *allegare* as a standalone doctrine. Both present it as a Latin root that generates rules, not a concept with its own independent legal content. Anderson's cross-references to ESTOPPEL, ANSWER, and VARIANCE are instructive: the maxim embedded in *allegare* is procedurally dispersed across multiple doctrines rather than housed in any single one.

What the historical dictionaries do not address is the civil law lineage of *allegare* in Roman and continental procedure, where the verb had a more formal procedural meaning tied to the *allegatio* — the formal written statement of facts presented to a judge. Researchers working in civilian or ecclesiastical court records may encounter *allegare* in that more technical sense, which neither Burrill nor Anderson fully develops.

ALLEGAREmain

Burrill's Law Dictionary • 1867

Lat. To allege or state; to bring forward, or set up, as a claim or defence. Allegans; alleging. Allegatum, allegata; alleged. Allegans contraria non est audiendus. One alleging contrary or contradictory things [whose statements contradict each other,] is not to be heard. 4 Inst. 279. Jenk. Cent. 16. Applied to the statements 4 Inst. ub. sup. of a witness. my And see "All my real property," in a will, has been held to import the same as all estate." 18 Vesey, Jr. 193. "All my lands" passes a fee. 1 Wash. Va. R. [96,] 126. "All my personal property, of every name or nature," includes choses in action. 28 Vermont R. 26, 27, 31. "All my notes," in a will, held to include bonds. 2 Devereux' Eq. R. 488, 496. "All I am worth," without other words to control them, pass real as well as personal estate. 1 Bro. C. C. 437. "All I am possessed of," in a will, construed. 5 Vesey, Jr. 811, 816. "All debts due to me," and "whatever debts may be due to me," in a will, pass a bill of exchange, and a balance of cash at a banker's. 1 Merivale, 541, note. See 3 Id. 434. "All demands," in a submission to arbitration, held to include questions concerning real as well as personal property. 2 Caines' R. 320. 15 Johns. R. 197. “All claims and demands whatsoever," in a release, held to be restricted to the subject matter of the release. 1 Edwards' Ch. R. 34. A release of "all demands" will not release a rent before it is due. Show. 90. Nor will it bar a future duty. 2 Mod. 281. "All business," in a power or authority, construed with reference to the subject Broom's Max. [127.] Allegans suam turpitudinem non est audiendus. One who alleges his own infamy is not to be heard. 4 Inst. 279. Allegari non debuit quod probatum non relevat. That ought not to be alleged, which if proved is not relevant. 1 Chan. Cas. 45.