Definition
AVIS carries two distinct meanings in historical legal sources, derived from two entirely separate linguistic roots.
1. (Civil law; Latin) A bird or fowl. In Roman law, the term described living birds as a category of property, with legal consequences for ownership, legacy, and bequest depending on whether specific animals fell within the classification.
2. (Law French; Old French) Advised; of considered opinion. Used in medieval English legal practice to signal that a court or judge had taken a matter under deliberation before issuing a ruling. The phrase estre bien avis — to be well advised — appears in the Year Books as a formula indicating judicial reflection rather than summary judgment.
Common Language
Modern common usage (Wiktionary): A particular car rental company.
Historical common usage (Webster's 1913): Advice; opinion; deliberation. Marked as obsolete; used by Chaucer.
The Webster's 1913 entry confirms that the Law French legal meaning and the ordinary English meaning were once closely aligned — both conveyed the sense of deliberate consideration or counsel. That convergence is useful to know: when a researcher encounters avis in a medieval or early modern English document outside a strictly legal context, the sense of "considered opinion" was as likely to be intended as any technical legal formula. The car rental association is entirely modern and legally irrelevant.
Common Confusion
The two legal meanings of avis — Latin (bird) and Law French (advised) — are etymologically unrelated and contextually distinct, but they can appear in close proximity in legal dictionaries that list them under a single headword without clear separation. A researcher encountering avis in a Roman law digest is reading about fauna and property; the same term in a Year Book passage signals judicial deliberation. Context resolves the ambiguity, but failure to notice which tradition a source is drawing from can produce a misreading.
Why It Matters in Research
Researchers working in two very different areas of the Law Mind corpus may encounter this term.
In Roman and civil law sources: The Latin avis matters in legacy and bequest contexts. The Digest passage cited by Burrill (Dig. 32.66) addresses what passes under a bequest of birds — a narrow but technically precise question about the scope of testamentary language. Researchers tracing property classification in civil law traditions, or comparative property law questions about animals as objects of ownership, should follow this thread.
In Year Book and early common law sources: The Law French avis appears as a term of art in judicial proceedings to signal that a decision was reserved for further consideration. This usage connects to the broader vocabulary of deliberation in medieval English courts — terms like advisement, curia advisari vult (the court wishes to be advised), and sur avisement. Researchers working with Year Book materials should be aware that avis in this context is a precursor to formal advisement language that persists into modern practice under Latinized forms.
The term is a low-frequency entry unlikely to appear as a primary search target, but its dual nature makes it a useful example of how Law French and Latin legal vocabulary coexisted and overlapped in English legal writing. Misidentifying the language of origin will send a researcher in the wrong direction.
Historical Dictionary Support
Burrill is the sole dictionary source here, and he handles both meanings concisely. His entry does the essential work: it separates the Latin civil law meaning (bird) from the Law French legal meaning (advised), cites the relevant Digest passage for the former, and points to a Year Book reference for the latter. No historical dictionary conflict exists because only one source is available for comparison.
What Burrill does not do is explain the practical significance of either meaning at any length. The civil law entry is essentially a pointer to the Digest. The Law French entry is a bare gloss. Researchers needing more context on the use of avis in Roman property law will need to go directly to Digest sources; those tracing advisement practice in medieval English courts will find richer material under related Year Book vocabulary.
Webster's 1913 corroborates the Law French sense by recording the ordinary English word in the same semantic space — deliberation, opinion — and marking it obsolete, which accurately reflects its trajectory out of general usage while it survived longer in legal formulas.