Definition
In civil and Roman-derived law, *dare* (Latin) means to transfer property from one person to another so as to make the recipient the effective owner or holder of the thing transferred. The transfer is accomplished with legal effect — Bracton's formulation captures this precisely: *rem accipientis facere cum effectu*, to cause a thing to be effectually his who receives it.
The purpose of the transfer determines its legal character:
1. *Dare solvendi animo* — transfer made to discharge a debt. The giving extinguishes a prior obligation.
2. *Dare contrahendi animo* — transfer made to receive an equivalent or to create an obligation. The giving is the consideration side of a transaction.
3. *Dare donandi animo* — transfer made from liberality, without expectation of return. This is gift: *dono datio*.
The term appears most prominently in civil law systems and in the Roman law sources that underlie them. In common law jurisdictions it surfaces in scholarly and comparative contexts, in treatises drawing on Bracton or Fleta, and in older equity pleadings that borrowed Latin technical vocabulary.
---
Common Language
Modern common usage (Wiktionary): To have courage for a purpose; to be bold or venturesome; to challenge another to attempt something risky.
Historical common usage (Webster's 1913): To have adequate or sufficient courage for any purpose; to be bold or venturesome; not to be afraid.
The gap here is total. The common English verb *dare* — meaning to risk, to challenge, or to be bold — shares no functional connection with the Latin legal term *dare*, which means to give or transfer property. A researcher encountering *dare* in a legal source must identify whether the document is using the Latin civil law term or the ordinary English word. In translated or bilingual civil law materials, the Latin *dare* will appear in contexts involving property transfer, obligation, and gift — never in the sense of courage or challenge.
---
Common Confusion
*Dare* is sometimes conflated with the broader Latin term *do* (also meaning to give), and with *tradere* (to hand over, deliver). These are related but not identical. *Dare* in the Bractonist tradition emphasizes the effectiveness of transfer — the recipient is made owner with full legal effect. *Tradere* focuses on physical delivery. *Do* in Roman formula law is the operative word of gift and grant, of which *dare* is the more precise doctrinal elaboration. Researchers in early common law sources should also distinguish *dare* from *facere* and *praestare*, the other two principal obligations in the Roman law triad: to give, to do, and to perform.
---
Why It Matters in Research
This term is an indexing trap in historical legal databases. Full-text searches for "dare" in digitized legal sources will return massive false-positive results — every use of the common English word "dare" meaning boldness or challenge. Researchers working in civil law, comparative law, or early common law sources (particularly those drawing on Bracton or Fleta) need to identify *dare* as a Latin term appearing in a Latin or mixed-language context, not an English word.
The tripartite classification — *solvendi animo*, *contrahendi animo*, *donandi animo* — is analytically important. It maps directly onto the question of intent in property transfer, which surfaces in gift law, consideration doctrine, and the law of obligations. When reading older civil law commentary, understanding which *animus* governs the *dare* determines the entire legal character of the transaction.
Researchers in early English equity and common law will encounter *dare* in Bracton-influenced passages. Burrill specifically cites Bracton fol. 11, 38b and Fleta lib. 3, c. 3, § 2 — these are the root texts. Any close reading of those sources requires literacy with *dare* in this technical sense.
The term also connects upward to *datio*, the noun form, which appears more frequently in secondary sources and is more likely to be indexed in legal dictionaries. If *dare* is the verb of transfer, *datio* is the act of transfer as a legal category. Researchers who locate *datio* entries should work backward to *dare* for definitional grounding.
---
Historical Dictionary Support
The historical dictionaries converge with unusual consistency on this entry. Black's (both editions) and Rapalje & Lawrence offer nearly identical definitions, all organized around the three-part *animo* classification. This uniformity reflects direct derivation from Roman law sources rather than independent doctrinal development — the dictionaries are reporting the same underlying civil law framework.
Burrill adds the most textually grounded entry, citing Bracton and Fleta directly and offering the Latin formula *rem accipientis facere cum effectu*. This formulation is the most precise: *dare* is not simply "to give" in the colloquial sense but to effectuate a transfer so that the recipient truly holds the thing. That distinction between bare physical transfer and legally effective transfer matters in the history of property law.
Anderson's entry for *dare* appears garbled in the available source — the text shifts mid-entry to unrelated material on *damnum absque injuria*, suggesting a digitization or pagination error in the source document. Researchers should not rely on Anderson's for this entry and should treat any apparent Anderson's definition of *dare* with caution until verified against the original print volume.
None of the historical dictionaries flag the false-cognate risk with the English verb *dare*. That is a gap this entry addresses.
---
Jurisdictional Note
*Dare* as a technical legal term operates within civil law systems and the Roman law tradition. It has no operative force as a term of art in modern common law jurisdictions. Its relevance in American and English legal research is confined to historical sources, comparative law scholarship, and academic commentary on early common law texts influenced by Roman and canon law.
---
Encyclopedia Cross-Reference
Law Mind Encyclopedia — Transfer of Property
Law Mind Encyclopedia — Civil Law Obligations
Law Mind Encyclopedia — Gift and Donative Intent
---