Definition
A Latin term from old conveyancing meaning "he has demised" — that is, he has leased or granted a tenancy. DIMISIT appears in formal conveyancing instruments, particularly leases executed under earlier common law practice, as part of the operative words by which a grantor transferred possession of land for a term. It is the third-person singular perfect indicative of the Latin verb meaning to send away, release, or let go, and in legal usage it signifies the completed act of leasing. The term is closely related to DIMISI ("I have demised"), which served the same function in the first person. Together, these Latin words formed part of the technical language of demise — the words of conveyance in a lease — before English displaced Latin in legal instruments.
Common Confusion
DIMISIT and DIMISI are frequently encountered together in historical sources and serve the same function in different grammatical persons. DIMISI is the first-person form ("I have demised"), used when the grantor speaks in his own voice; DIMISIT is the third-person form ("he has demised"), used in instruments reciting the grantor's act in narrative form. Neither term should be confused with DIMISSORIÆ LITTERÆ (letters dimissory), an entirely distinct concept from civil and ecclesiastical law referring to letters by which a court or bishop transferred jurisdiction or released a person to another authority.
Why It Matters in Research
DIMISIT belongs to the technical vocabulary of medieval and early modern English conveyancing and will appear almost exclusively in historical lease instruments, pleadings in actions involving leases (particularly actions of ejectment), and older treatises on real property and conveyancing. Researchers encountering the term in primary sources should understand that its presence signals operative language — the words by which a leasehold was actually created — rather than merely descriptive recital.
Two research traps are worth flagging. First, the Latin forms DIMISIT and DIMISI appear interchangeably in some early printed digests and abridgments depending on whether the instrument was quoted directly or paraphrased; a researcher following cross-references should verify which person is actually used in the source document. Second, Black's first edition appends a note on DIMISSORIÆ LITTERÆ immediately following the DIMISIT entry, which can mislead a rapid reader into conflating the two concepts. The connection is purely alphabetical — the terms share a Latin root but operate in entirely different legal contexts (conveyancing versus ecclesiastical and civil procedure).
For corpus researchers working in Law Mind, DIMISIT will surface primarily in materials predating 1733, when the Proceedings in Courts of Justice Act required English in legal instruments. Post-1733 occurrences are likely quotations from or commentary on earlier instruments. The term connects forward to the English "demise," which carried the same operative conveyancing meaning and remained in use long after Latin was abandoned.
Historical Dictionary Support
All three source dictionaries are in agreement: DIMISIT means "he has demised" and belongs to old conveyancing. Black's first and second editions are nearly identical in their treatment, both cross-referencing DIMISI as the primary entry and appending the note on DIMISSORIÆ LITTERÆ. Burrill's entry is the most spare — simply the Latin classification, the English gloss, and the cross-reference — but it confirms the same meaning without divergence.
None of the historical dictionaries elaborate on the specific instruments in which DIMISIT appeared or explain the pleading context in which proof of a demise was required. For that context, researchers should consult historical conveyancing treatises and works on the action of ejectment, where the operative words of a lease were examined closely in the context of fictitious and actual leases alike.
Encyclopedia Cross-Reference
See Law Mind Encyclopedia: Demise; Conveyancing (Historical); Lease (Common Law Forms).