DEF - The Law Mind Legal Dictionary

DEFAuthored

The Law Mind • 739 words

Definition

"Def" is a historical legal abbreviation appearing in medieval and early modern legal manuscripts, primarily in Latin-language legal texts. It functions as a shorthand for terms beginning with the Latin root *defalt-* or *defect-*, most commonly encountered as a contraction for **defalta** (default) and related procedural concepts such as *defaltam facere* (to make default) and *defaltam sanare* (to cure a default). In manuscript and printed legal texts predating standardized legal terminology, "def" served as a scribal compression of these Latin phrases, not as a standalone legal term with independent doctrinal meaning.

The abbreviation is found primarily in Bracton's *De Legibus et Consuetudinibus Angliae* and in references to the Statute of Marlborough (1267), where procedural default was a central mechanism of early common law pleading and land law.

Common Language

Modern common usage (Wiktionary): "Def" appears as an abbreviation for diesel exhaust fluid, an initialism for defence point, and shorthand for daily or delayed electronic feed. In informal modern English, "def" is also slang for "definitely."

Historical common usage: Not listed as a common English word in Webster's 1913; it appears only as a prefix or abbreviation in technical contexts.

Editorial note: The common modern meanings of "def" — technical, commercial, or colloquial — have no relationship to the legal abbreviation. Researchers encountering "def" in historical legal manuscripts should not import any modern meaning. Context and surrounding Latin text are the controlling guides to interpretation.

Common Confusion

"Def" in historical legal texts is frequently misread as an abbreviation for "defendant" (often abbreviated *deft*, *def't*, or *D.*). The two abbreviations can appear in superficially similar manuscript hands. The distinction matters: "def" in Bracton-era Latin texts refers to procedural default or defect concepts (*defalta*, *defectus*), while defendant abbreviations refer to a party. Researchers should examine the grammatical and procedural context before assigning either meaning.

Why It Matters in Research

This abbreviation is a navigational trap for researchers working in pre-modern common law sources, particularly manuscripts, Year Books, and treatises written before standardized English legal vocabulary displaced Latin. Three specific research risks:

First, **manuscript legibility**: "Def" and "deft" (defendant) are easily confused in secretary hand and court hand scripts. Misreading can produce a false record of who bore procedural obligations in a dispute.

Second, **Latin procedural meaning**: The phrases *defaltam facere* and *defaltam sanare* have specific procedural content in Bracton — the first describes the act of failing to appear or answer, triggering adverse consequences; the second describes the act of correcting or healing that failure. These are not interchangeable and do not map cleanly onto modern default doctrine. Researchers citing Bracton for default principles must read these phrases in their original procedural frame.

Third, **Statute of Marlborough context**: The Burrill source places "def" references near Statute of Marlborough chapter 13 material concerning distress and procedural default in real actions. This is a specific and narrow procedural context — not a general default rule. Researchers should not generalize from these passages to broader default doctrine without tracing the statutory context carefully.

Outside of medieval and early modern Latin legal manuscripts, "def" has no recognized standalone legal meaning and should not be treated as a legal term of art in any other context.

Historical Dictionary Support

Burrill's Law Dictionary is the sole historical dictionary source covering this abbreviation. Burrill situates "def" within the Latin procedural vocabulary of early common law, specifically citing Bracton's *De Legibus* at folios 255, 299b, 360b, 363, 367b, and 386b, and the Statute of Marlborough chapter 13. Burrill's treatment is descriptive rather than analytical — he records the abbreviation and its expansions without elaborating the substantive doctrine behind *defalta*. Researchers should note that Burrill's entry appears to transition mid-passage to a discussion of stranger-to-indenture doctrine and the Statute of Uses, suggesting the source text was formatted in continuous columns where adjacent entries bled together. That transition material concerns indenture and remainder law, not the "def" abbreviation itself, and should be read as a separate entry.

No other standard historical legal dictionaries — not Black's, not Bouvier's, not Tomlin's — carry a specific entry for "def" as an abbreviation. This is a gap in the secondary literature, and Bracton's original text remains the primary source for precise usage.

DEFmain

Burrill's Law Dictionary • 1867

( 459 ) Stat. Marlbr. c. 13. Defaltam facere; to make default. Bract. fol. 360 b, 363, 386 b. Defaltam sanare; to cure a default. Id. fol. 299 b, 367 b, 386 b. [formerly] give a right of action to D. So, fol. 255. a stranger to an indenture could not take a release under it, or an estate unless by way of remainder or through the statute of uses. Now, a stranger may take immediately under an indenture, and a deed may have the effect of an indenture without being actually indented. 1 Spence's Chancery, 160. A deed poll is held to be the deed of the party making it, and concludes him only; but an indenture is the deed of both parties, and concludes both. Finch's Law, b. 2, c. 2, p. 109. 2 Hill's (S. C.) R. 439. And see 2 Hilliard's Real Prop. 265, et seq. (460) gage] both the conveyance of the land to the alienee, and the conditions, if any, to which it is to be subject, and by which its effect may be defeated. 1 Steph. Com. 487. See 4 Kent's Com. 141, 142, and notes. An instrument accompanying a bond, recognizance or judgment, containing a condition which, when performed, defeats or undoes it. 2 Bl. Com. 342. Co. Litt. 236, 237. A defeasance may also be endorsed on a bond, but the modern practice is to make the condition a part of the bond itself. See Bond. ( 461 ) (462) Id. c. 75. Et quant al defense, se purra telligitur. le defendaunt puis apres defendre en ceste 3. 51. 1. manere; and as to the defence, the defendant may afterwards defend himself in this manner. Britt. c. 22. Pursuer et defendre; to prosecute and defend. Id. c. 21. See Defender. (463) A state of several occupancy or appro- work, which the author called his Conseil, priation. Magna Charta, c. 16. contains in particular an account of the customs of the country of Vermandois. 1 Robertson's Charles V. Appendix, Note xxx. Esprit des Lois, ub. sup. Defence, in the old sense of prohibition; a state of prohibition, or in which the use of a thing is prohibited by law. Stat. Westm. 2, c. 47. See In defenso.

DEFnoun

Wiktionary (English) • 2026

Wiktionary contributors • CC BY-SA 4.0 • via Kaikki
Extracted and formatted for display by Law Mind. Source link opens the current Wiktionary page and its contributor history; it is not a frozen copy of this extract.

Abbreviation of diesel exhaust fluid. | Initialism of defence point. | Initialism of daily electronic feed. | Initialism of delayed electronic feed.

defnoun

Wiktionary (English) • 2026

Abbreviation of definition. | Abbreviation of deficit.

defadv

Wiktionary (English) • 2026

Clipping of definitely.

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