Definition
AQU is a fragmentary abbreviation or prefix form appearing in early legal dictionaries and law Latin/French glossaries. In the context of Burrill's Law Dictionary, it appears as part of a series of compressed glossary entries for archaic terms, where "aqu" functions as a truncated entry head pointing toward spatial or relational proximity — meaning "next," "nearest to," or "nearest." The associated senses recorded are: (1) thereafter; (2) next; (3) nearest to. These meanings connect to the Latin and Law French vocabulary of proximity, succession, and relational position that pervaded medieval and early modern common law pleading and conveyancing.
The entry as it survives in Burrill is fragmentary, appearing mid-series in a glossary chain alongside "cy apres" (a related doctrine meaning "as near as possible") and a citation to Kelham's dictionary of Norman French legal terms for the sense of "next; nearest to." This suggests AQU is most likely either a truncated form of a Law French or Latin term in the family of proximity-related vocabulary — possibly a compressed gloss or catchword rather than a freestanding legal term of art.
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Common Confusion
AQU should not be read as a complete, independent legal term. It appears in Burrill as what is almost certainly a printer's abbreviation, a catchword, or a truncated headword in a compressed alphabetical series. Researchers encountering "aqu" in historical legal texts should not assume a fixed standalone doctrine. Instead, the term likely points to one of several complete forms: "aqua" (Latin for water, with a rich body of water-rights doctrine), or a Law French proximity term glossed by Kelham. The proximity senses ("next," "nearest to," "thereafter") recorded in Burrill are more likely attributable to a related but distinct headword that shares the "aqu-" opening letters. Conflating this entry with the water-rights doctrine of "aqua" would be a significant error — those are unrelated lines of law.
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Why It Matters in Research
The primary research value of this entry is bibliographic and methodological rather than doctrinal. When working in Burrill's Law Dictionary or other nineteenth-century legal glossaries, researchers will encounter compressed, mid-series entries that are artifacts of typesetting or alphabetical abridgment rather than coherent standalone definitions. AQU is a case study in how historical dictionary entries can mislead: the three senses recorded (thereafter; next; nearest to) are coherent legal concepts, but their attachment to the headword "AQU" is almost certainly an accident of truncation.
Researchers tracing proximity doctrine in conveyancing or succession contexts — the substantive territory these senses occupy — should follow the "cy apres" cross-reference and consult Kelham directly for the Norman French vocabulary of nearness and sequence. Kelham's glossary of Norman French terms is the identified source for the "next; nearest to" sense, making it the authoritative starting point for any research into what the complete underlying term was.
The entry also illustrates a pattern in Burrill: the dictionary was compiled from layered sources, and compressed or broken entries sometimes survive in print as orphaned fragments. Cross-referencing Kelham and the cy apres doctrine is the correct path forward when this entry is encountered.
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Historical Dictionary Support
Burrill's Law Dictionary is the sole source for this entry in the Law Mind corpus, and the entry itself is sparse — three relational meanings (thereafter; next; nearest to) with a cross-reference to "cy apres" and a citation to Kelham for the last sense. No other historical legal dictionary in the standard shelf (Black's, Bouvier, Tomlin, Jacob) carries a headword "AQU" in this form, which reinforces the reading that this is a truncated entry rather than an independent term of art.
The relational meanings recorded are consistent with Law French and Latin vocabulary of succession and proximity used in medieval conveyancing and pleading — a family of terms specifying relational position in chains of title, lines of descent, or sequential legal events. That Burrill cross-references cy apres is significant: cy apres is a recognized equitable doctrine (directing application of a gift or trust "as near as possible" to the original intent when literal compliance is impossible), and proximity-of-meaning is the shared thread.
Kelham's Glossary of Norman French is the authoritative nineteenth-century source for this class of term and should be consulted directly if the complete underlying term is needed.
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