Definition
A dotkin is a historical term appearing in insurance law, used as an alternative form of "doitkin." Burrill's Law Dictionary directs readers to that entry for the substantive definition, while specifically noting that dotkin must not be confused with re-assurance, which is a transaction made by the insurer. The term belongs to the technical vocabulary of early insurance law and refers to a form of insurance arrangement distinct from re-assurance.
Common Language
Modern common usage (Wiktionary): Alternative form of doitkin.
Historical common usage: Not recorded in Webster's 1913 as a common English word; the term appears to be specialized legal and commercial vocabulary.
Editorial note: The term has no meaningful modern common usage. Its appearance in general reference sources only as a variant spelling of "doitkin" reflects the word's narrow historical scope — it was trade and legal terminology, not ordinary English.
Common Confusion
Burrill explicitly flags the critical confusion: dotkin (or doitkin) is not the same as re-assurance. Re-assurance is a transaction initiated by the original insurer, who seeks to lay off risk by contracting with a second insurer. Dotkin, by contrast, is a distinct insurance arrangement. Researchers working in early insurance law should treat these as separate concepts and not conflate them when reading historical policy documents or treatises.
Why It Matters in Research
This term is a navigational term — its primary function in legal research is to redirect researchers to the substantive entry at DOITKIN. Any researcher encountering "dotkin" in a historical insurance document or legal text should immediately treat it as synonymous with "doitkin" and consult that entry for the operative definition.
The Burrill cross-reference to "Ins. 280" points to a historical insurance treatise; without identifying the specific work, researchers should be aware that the substantive law governing this concept is found in period insurance treatises, not in modern statutory or case law sources. The term is essentially obsolete in contemporary practice and will appear only in historical materials — colonial-era and early republic insurance contracts, English and American mercantile records, and nineteenth-century legal dictionaries.
The explicit warning against confusion with re-assurance signals that the two concepts were close enough in practice to cause genuine interpretive problems for period readers, which means modern researchers reading historical sources should apply the same caution when categorizing early insurance arrangements.
Historical Dictionary Support
Burrill's Law Dictionary is the primary shelf source for this term, and its entry is a bare cross-reference with one substantive caveat: the distinction from re-assurance. No independent definition is supplied under this spelling. The historical dictionary record for "dotkin" as a standalone entry is therefore thin; the weight of historical legal definition rests under the "doitkin" headword.
Burrill's practice of noting what a term is not — here, that dotkin is not re-assurance — is characteristic of period dictionary drafting where closely related commercial terms generated practical confusion in litigation and underwriting. The note implies that courts or practitioners had occasion to draw or dispute the line between these instruments, though Burrill does not supply case authority at this entry.