Definition
An archaic Latin legal term from old English law meaning to admeasure — that is, to measure out, apportion, or assign shares by formal legal process. The term appears in medieval English legal texts as a variant spelling of *admensurare*, and the two forms were used interchangeably. The underlying concept concerns the official measurement and allocation of property or rights, typically land or common resources, to those legally entitled to specified portions.
Why It Matters in Research
This term functions almost exclusively as a gateway term. Researchers encountering *amensurare* in a historical English legal source are being directed — as Burrill himself does — to *admensurare* and the broader doctrine of admeasurement. Do not treat this as a substantively independent term; treat it as a spelling variant pointing to a live legal concept.
The practical research trap is paleographic: in medieval manuscripts and early printed law books, the prefix *ad-* was frequently contracted, elided, or dropped by copyists, producing variant spellings like *amensurare*, *mensurare*, and *admensurare* for what is effectively the same operation. A researcher working through Bracton or other Year Book-era materials should be alert to this scribal variability and not assume distinct legal meanings attach to each spelling.
The Bracton citation (fol. 314a) given by Burrill places this term squarely in the context of Bracton's treatment of writs of admeasurement — particularly the writ of admeasurement of pasture (*admensuratio pasturae*), which was used to correct the overburdening of common land by one commoner to the detriment of others. That context is essential for interpreting any passage where *amensurare* appears.
Historical Dictionary Support
Burrill's treatment is minimal: a single-line entry that identifies the term as old English law Latin, glosses it as "to admeasure," supplies the Bracton folio reference, and redirects entirely to *admensurare*. Burrill makes no attempt to define the term independently, which is itself informative — the entry exists only to catch the variant spelling and funnel the reader to the substantive entry.
No other source in the Law Mind shelf provides a direct entry for *amensurare* as a distinct term. This is consistent with the term's status: it is a scribal or orthographic variant, not a doctrinally independent concept. Historical dictionaries that cover admeasurement fully (including Burrill under *admensurare*) contain the substance a researcher needs; this entry is the cross-reference.
Encyclopedia Cross-Reference
See ADMEASUREMENT for the substantive doctrine, including the writs of admeasurement of dower and admeasurement of pasture.