AMPLIATION - The Law Mind Legal Dictionary

AMPLIATIONAuthored

The Law Mind • 854 words

Definition

In civil law, a formal deferral of judgment in a pending cause, ordered when the court finds the matter insufficiently clear for immediate decision. Rather than ruling on the merits, the tribunal postponed its decision to allow for further examination, additional argument, or more complete information. The practice was signaled by the judge pronouncing the word amplius ("more" or "further") or inscribing the letters N.L., standing for non liquet — meaning the law or facts were not clear.

In French law, ampliation carries a distinct second meaning: a duplicate or certified copy of an acquittance, notarial act, or other instrument, delivered by a notary to the parties following execution of the original. The two meanings are historically separate and should not be conflated.

Common Language

Modern common usage (Wiktionary): Enlargement; amplification. A postponement of the decision of a cause for further consideration or reargument.

Historical common usage (Webster's 1913): Enlargement; amplification. A postponement of the decision of a cause, for further consideration or re-argument.

The common English sense of ampliation as mere enlargement or amplification is almost entirely absent from legal usage. In legal contexts the term is technical and procedural, not rhetorical. A researcher encountering ampliation in a legal source should not read it as simple elaboration or expansion of argument; it denotes a formal procedural act — either a judicial deferral or a notarial copy.

Recognized Forms

/SUBTYPES

1. Judicial ampliation (civil law): The deferral of judgment by a court pending further examination. Functionally analogous to the English practice of curia advisari vult (cur. adv. vult), in which a court reserved its decision for further consideration, or to the ulterius concilium recognized in earlier English practice.

2. Notarial ampliation (French law): A certified duplicate of a notarial act or acquittance, issued by the notary to the parties. Functionally comparable to what later practice would call an engrossed or certified copy.

Why It Matters in Research

Ampliation is primarily a term of historical and civil law research. Modern common law sources will rarely use it, and when they do, the reference is almost always comparative — explaining a foreign or historical procedure by analogy to something familiar.

The two-meaning problem is the principal research trap. A researcher working in French legal sources or notarial records will encounter ampliation meaning a document copy, while a researcher in Roman or civil law procedural sources will encounter it as a judgment deferral. The corpus context (procedural treatise vs. notarial register) should resolve the ambiguity, but the distinction must be held in mind.

The analogy to cur. adv. vult (common law) and non liquet (civil law) is useful for cross-system comparison. Bouvier draws this parallel explicitly, noting the resemblance to common-law practice of entering cur. adv. vult. Burrill points instead to the ulterius concilium of English practice. Both comparisons are instructive but imprecise — the procedural mechanics and consequences differed across systems.

Researchers working in Louisiana, Quebec, or other mixed civil/common law jurisdictions may encounter ampliation in a more live legal context, particularly in notarial practice. In those sources, the notarial copy meaning is more likely operative.

For corpus work, note that ampliation appears with greatest density in civil law treatises, comparative law works of the 18th and 19th centuries, and notarial records from French-derived legal systems. Its appearance in common law materials is almost always explanatory or historical.

Historical Dictionary Support

The historical dictionaries agree closely on the core definition. Black's (both editions), Bouvier, Rapalje & Lawrence, and Burrill all identify ampliation first as a civil law deferral of judgment, and all but Burrill note the French notarial copy meaning as a secondary sense.

Burrill is the most analytically precise, noting the analogy to the ulterius concilium of English practice and tracing the term to the Latin ampliatio. Bouvier adds the useful detail about the N.L. notation and the non liquet formula, grounding the term in the actual mechanics of civil law procedure. Black's (both editions) cites Halifax's Analysis of the Civil Law — a reliable 18th-century comparative source — for the rehearing-order characterization, though the chapter references differ slightly between the two Black's editions (c. 13 vs. c. 18), suggesting a copying variation researchers should note when tracing citations.

None of the historical dictionaries engages with the theoretical distinction between ampliation as a discretionary judicial act versus a formal procedural right of the parties. This gap reflects the limits of dictionary treatment; researchers needing that level of procedural detail should consult civil law treatises directly.

Jurisdictional Note

Ampliation as an active legal term is largely confined to civil law jurisdictions and their historical antecedents. In Louisiana and Quebec, notarial ampliation (certified copies of notarial acts) retains practical relevance in notarial practice. In purely common law jurisdictions, the term appears only in comparative or historical writing.

AMPLIATIONmain

Black's Law Dictionary • 1891

In the civil law. A deferring of judgment until a cause be further examined. Calvin.; Cowell. An order for the rehearing of a cause on a day appointed, for the sake of more ample information. Halifax, Anal. b. 3, c. 13, n. 32. In French law. A duplicate of an ac- quittance or other instrument. A notary's copy of acts passed before him, delivered to the parties

AMPLIATIONmain

Bouvier's Law Dictionary • 1928

In Civil Law. A deferring of judgment until the cause is further examined. In this case, the judges pronounced the word amplius, or by writing the letters N. L. for non liquet, signifying that the cause was not clear. It is very similar to the common-law practice of enter- ing cur. adv. vult in similar cases. In French Law. A duplicate of an acquittance or other instrument. A notary's copy of acts passed before him, delivered to the parties. AMY (Fr.). Friend. See PROCHEIN

AMPLIATIONmain

Rapalje & Lawrence • 1888

-A term used in the civil law to denote a deferring of judgment until the cause is further considered. It was also used as meaning an official copy of a notarial act. AMY.-See AMI; PROCHEIN AMY. lands (terræ regis or terræ regis Edwardi). The tenants are freeholders, and formerly had exceptional privileges, the chief of which was the right to sue and be sued on questions affecting their lands in a manorial court called the Court of Ancient Demesne (2 Bl. Com. 99); this and most of their other privileges have been taken away (Stat. 3 and 4 Will. IV. c. 27, § 36; 3 and 4 Will. IV. c. 74, § 4), but they still have in many instances peculiar customs of descent, dower, curtesy, &c., similar to those of boroughEnglish and gavelkind lands. Elt. Copyh. 7. ANCIENT DEMESNE, (defined). 1 Salk. 57. (what manors were). 4 Inst. 269. ANCIENT HOUSES, or MESSUAGES.-In England this term is applied to houses or buildings erected before the time of legal memory (Cooke Incl. 35, 109), that is, beAN OCCUPANT, (of land, under a statute). 5 fore the reign of Richard I., although practiAbb. (N. Y.) Pr. N. S. 445, 449. ANATOCISMUS.-A civil law term signifying interest upon interest; compound, or repeated interest. ANCESTOR.-A deceased person from whom another has inherited land. A former possessor. See HEIR; PREDECESSOR. ANCESTOR, (in relation to succession of real estate). 18 Ohio St. 311; 5 N. Y. 263; 3 Barb. (N. Y.) Ch. 438; 52 N. Y. 67; 108 Mass. 40. *"There are, however, as a rule, in manors of ancient demesne, customary freeholders, and sometimes copyholders, at the will of the lord, as well as the true tenants in ancient demesne." Élt. cally any house is an ancient messuage if it was erected before the time of living memory, and its origin cannot be proved to be modern. Ancient houses frequently have rights of common (e. g. common of estovers) attached to them and to houses built in their stead on the old site (Id.; Wms. Comm. 186), and the easements of light and support were formerly confined to ancient houses, but now the provisions of the prescription act and the modern rules applied by analogy to cases not within the act, have made the doctrine unimportant.

AMPLIATIONn.

Websters Unabridged Dictionary (1913) • 1913

Enlargement; amplification. [R.] A postponement of the decision of a cause, for further consideration or re-argument.

ampliationnoun

Wiktionary (English) • 2026

Wiktionary contributors • CC 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.

Enlargement; amplification. | A postponement of the decision of a cause for further consideration or reargument.

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