Definition
Atterminatio (Latin, historical English law): The granting of a term or delay; a respite or adjournment of a legal proceeding, particularly the postponement of a debt obligation or legal demand to a future date. The term denotes the act of setting a terminus — a fixed time limit — within which a debtor or party might satisfy an obligation or appear to answer a claim. In practice, atterminatio functioned as a formal extension of time, distinguishing it from an outright discharge or pardon of the obligation itself.
Why It Matters in Research
This is a term of medieval English legal Latin that researchers will encounter almost exclusively in early common law records, original writs, and formularies — particularly the Registrum Originale (Register of Writs). It does not survive into modern legal usage and has no statutory or case law presence in contemporary materials.
Researchers working in pre-modern English legal sources should be aware that atterminatio and its Anglo-French cognate atterminement (see RELATED TERMS) appear interchangeably in some sources, with scribal practice determining which form appears in a given document. The Latin form tends to appear in formal pleading records and writs; the French form appears in abridgments, glossaries, and secondary commentary on early practice.
The practical significance of the concept — postponing a legal obligation to a fixed future date — connects to broader questions of debt law, creditor relief, and the administration of feudal obligations. Researchers tracing the history of debt moratoriums, creditor-debtor arrangements, or adjournment practice in English legal history should note this term as a precursor to later procedural mechanisms. It is not, however, a direct ancestor of modern continuance doctrine, which developed through different procedural streams.
The term should not be confused with concepts like discharge, release, or acquittance. Atterminatio implies the obligation endures; only the time of performance is extended.
Historical Dictionary Support
Burrill's Law Dictionary provides the only substantive entry among the standard historical law dictionaries. Burrill defines atterminatio tersely as "determination" — a usage that requires careful reading. In this context, "determination" carries its older Latin sense of setting a definite limit or terminus, not the modern legal sense of termination or resolution of a matter. Burrill cross-references the Registrum Originale at folio 30 as the primary source for the term's usage in English legal practice.
Burrill also records the Anglo-French form atterminement, defined through Kelham's Law Dictionary of Norman French as "respite; adjournment; attermination" — a trio of near-synonyms that collectively clarify what atterminatio meant in practice: a sanctioned delay, not a disposition.
No definition of atterminatio appears in Tomlin's Law Dictionary, Jacob's Law Dictionary, or Black's Law Dictionary in its early editions, suggesting the term was already archaic by the time those works were compiled. Its appearance in Burrill reflects that dictionary's breadth of coverage of medieval and Norman-period terminology rather than any ongoing currency of the term.
Researchers should be cautious: Burrill's gloss of "determination" without further context could mislead a reader unfamiliar with the archaic Latin sense of that word. The Kelham entry on atterminement is more instructive as a practical guide to meaning.
Jurisdictional Note
Atterminatio is a term of historical English law only. It has no recognized equivalent or usage in Scots law, civil law systems, or American legal sources. Researchers encountering the term outside English ecclesiastical, chancery, or common law records should verify the source context carefully.