Definition
"Dendum B" does not appear to be a recognized standalone legal term. The source material attributed to this entry in Burrill's Law Dictionary describes the capias writ — specifically the Latin form of the writ and its English translation history — and does not define or use the phrase "dendum b" as a term of art. The fragment appears to reference writ-drafting formulas associated with the capias ad respondendum, including the clause "de placito quod" and the command "Et habeas ibi hoc breve" (and have there this writ), along with the historical note that the capias was originally called a habeas corpus from words used in it.
No independent legal definition for "dendum b" as a distinct term can be confirmed from the available sources.
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Common Confusion
"Dendum b" should not be confused with the legal suffixes "-andum" or "-endum" appearing in Latin gerundive forms common to writ and pleading vocabulary (e.g., faciendum, reddendum, habendum). These are genuine terms with defined legal meanings. "Dendum b" does not correspond to any such form.
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Why It Matters in Research
Researchers encountering this label in a Law Mind corpus index should treat it as a potential indexing artifact or transcription error rather than a term of art. The underlying Burrill passage is substantive and concerns the capias writ — a topic with significant historical and procedural content — but the label "Dendum B" does not correspond to any identifiable writ, doctrine, or Latin maxim in the standard common law lexicon.
If you are researching the capias or related process writs, the relevant entry points are CAPIAS, HABEAS CORPUS (in its historical process sense, distinct from the modern constitutional writ), and the Latin clause "habeas ibi hoc breve." Burrill's treatment of the capias more broadly, and Reeves' History of English Law (2 Reeves' Hist. Eng. Law 439, cited in the passage), are the appropriate primary sources for the historical writ form described.
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Historical Dictionary Support
Burrill's Law Dictionary does not define "dendum b" as a term. The passage associated with this label in the source material is an editorial note on the capias writ form, tracing the Latin original ("de placito quod, &c. Et habeas ibi hoc breve. Teste, &c.") through its English translation and adoption in American practice. Burrill notes that the modern English writ was, until recently, a literal translation of the Latin form, and that modifications had been introduced in American practice. The citation to 2 Reeves' Hist. Eng. Law 439 anchors the historical claim that the capias was originally called a habeas corpus. No other historical dictionary in the current Law Mind shelf uses "dendum b" as a headword or defined phrase.
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