Definition
A Latinized form of "coif" appearing in old legal records. COIFA is a variant spelling used in Latin-language entries of medieval and early modern English legal documents to denote the coif — the white linen cap worn by serjeants-at-law, the senior order of barristers at common law, as a mark of their rank and professional identity. The term has no independent legal meaning beyond its reference to the coif and the status it symbolized.
Why It Matters in Research
Researchers encountering COIFA in historical records should treat it as a direct pointer to COIF and the body of law and custom surrounding serjeants-at-law. The Latinized spelling is a transcription artifact of medieval record-keeping practice, where English legal terms were routinely rendered in Latin form. Searching historical sources under COIFA alone will produce sparse results; searches should be extended to COIF and to the Latin COYFA or COIFA interchangeably. The term is most likely to surface in court rolls, patent records, or writs from the medieval and early Tudor periods. Because Burrill references Spelman — that is, Henry Spelman's *Glossarium Archaeologicum* — researchers working with this term in primary sources should consult Spelman directly for the fullest early treatment of the word in its Latin record context.
Historical Dictionary Support
Burrill's Law Dictionary disposes of COIFA in a single cross-reference, treating it purely as a Latin variant of COIF with a citation to Spelman. This is the appropriate weight to give the term: it carries no independent doctrinal content. Historical dictionaries that cover COIF more fully — including Tomlin's Law Dictionary and Jacob's Law Dictionary — address the coif's significance to the order of serjeants-at-law in substantive detail, but none treat COIFA as anything other than a spelling variant. Researchers should not expect additional legal content to attach to the Latinized form.
Encyclopedia Cross-Reference
See Law Mind Encyclopedia: COIF; SERJEANTS-AT-LAW