Definition
An archaic Law French term meaning "to go downwards" or "to bring down." The term appears in historical English legal records and pleadings as a descriptive verb, not as a term of art carrying independent legal significance. Its function was purely directional or descriptive within the context of a larger legal phrase or narrative.
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Why It Matters in Research
DEVALER is a navigational term for researchers working in medieval and early modern English legal sources, particularly those encountering Law French pleadings, year books, or registries predating the abolition of Law French in court proceedings. Its value is contextual rather than doctrinal: a researcher who encounters the word in a manuscript or printed record needs to recognize it as a directional descriptor, not a term of legal consequence in its own right.
Because the term carries no formal legal definition beyond its literal meaning, it will not appear in modern legal indexes or digests. Researchers should treat encounters with DEVALER as a linguistic marker rather than a legal category — its presence signals the vintage and register of the source document rather than pointing toward a distinct body of law or doctrine.
Be alert to proximity: Burrill's entry places DEVALER immediately before DEVANT (meaning "before"), and these terms can appear in close succession in older records. Distinguishing them matters for accurate translation of archaic pleadings.
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Historical Dictionary Support
Burrill's Law Dictionary is the principal authority for this term in the common law dictionary tradition, citing Kelham's glossary of Norman French as its source. Burrill offers only the bare translation — "to go downwards; to bring down" — with no illustrative legal context or case reference, which itself confirms that the term did not acquire technical legal significance distinct from its ordinary Law French meaning.
No entry for DEVALER appears in contemporaneous dictionaries such as Jacob's Law Dictionary or Bouvier's Law Dictionary, further indicating that the term was not treated as a standalone legal concept warranting independent definition. Its appearance in Burrill reflects his comprehensive approach to Law French vocabulary rather than any special doctrinal weight the term carries.
Kelham's Normand-French glossary, from which Burrill draws, catalogued terms from year books and early legal records as an aid to reading medieval sources rather than as a guide to living legal doctrine. Researchers should treat DEVALER accordingly — as evidence of Law French register in a source document, useful for dating and contextualizing the text.
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Jurisdictional Note
DEVALER is specific to the English common law tradition and its Law French inheritance. It has no recognized counterpart in American, Scottish, or civilian legal vocabularies.
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