EGREDIENS ET EXEUNS

4 definitions found across Law Mind sources

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EGREDIENS ET EXEUNSAuthored
The Law Mind • 640 words
Definition
A Latin phrase from old common law pleading meaning "going forth and issuing out of" land. The phrase appeared in formal pleadings to describe the act of exiting or departing from a parcel of land, typically in the context of rights or interests that arose from, or were exercised upon, real property. It is not a substantive legal doctrine but a term of pleading art — precise formulaic language used in older common law declarations and pleas to describe physical or legal egress from land.
Why It Matters in Research
This term is a navigational marker rather than a living legal concept. Researchers will encounter it almost exclusively in pre-nineteenth-century English pleading records, form books, and treatises on common law pleading practice. It signals that the surrounding document is operating within the technical vocabulary of classical common law pleading, where precision of Latin phrasing carried procedural weight. Misreading or skipping over such formulaic phrases can cause a researcher to misunderstand what right or action is being described — particularly in cases involving easements, rights of way, profits à prendre, or trespass to land, where the direction and nature of movement across or out of land was legally significant. The phrase also illustrates a broader research trap in historical pleading materials: Latin phrases that appear to state facts are often terms of art performing a specific pleading function, not neutral description. Treating egrediens et exeuns as mere color rather than as a defined pleading formula risks missing the precise legal claim being asserted. Because the term appears in form books rather than case reporters, researchers tracing its usage should look to pleading treatises and precedent books of the English common law tradition rather than to judicial opinions directly.
Historical Dictionary Support
Black's Law Dictionary (both the first and second editions) and Burrill's Law Dictionary are in complete agreement on this term: all three define it as "going forth and issuing out of (land)" and each cites Townshend's Pleadings (Townsh. Pl. 17) as the authority. The uniformity across sources is itself informative — this is a settled term of art that generated no interpretive controversy, consistent with its nature as formulaic pleading language rather than a contested legal standard. No historical dictionary offers elaboration beyond the core definition and the single treatise citation. This brevity reflects the term's function: it was a fixed phrase drawn from pleading precedents, not a concept requiring doctrinal development. Researchers should not expect to find case law debating its meaning. The absence of elaboration in the historical dictionaries is a feature, not a gap — the term was self-contained and its meaning was fixed by usage in the forms. Burrill's entry is the most concise, confirming the Latin derivation and the pleading context without addition. Black's second edition reproduces the first edition entry without revision, confirming that no evolution in meaning was recognized between editions.
Encyclopedia Cross-Reference
See Law Mind Encyclopedia: Common Law Pleading; Easements and Rights of Way; Latin Legal Terms in Historical Documents
Related Terms
EGRESS — the modernplain-English right or ability to exit a property; the substantive concept that egrediens et exeuns may describe in pleading context PROFITS À PRENDRE — a real property right to take something from another's land; historical pleadings involving such rights may employ this phrase INGRESS — the counterpart concept (entry onto land)often paired with egress in easement language EGRESSUS — related Latin form appearing in some historical texts TRESPASS QUARE CLAUSUM FREGIT — common law pleading form for trespass to land; contextually adjacent in the pleading tradition COMMON LAW PLEADING — the broader system of formal pleading within which this phrase operated EASEMENT — the substantive real property right most likely at issue when this phrase appears in a pleading record
EGREDIENS ET EXEUNSmain
Black's Law Dictionary • 1891
In old pleading. Going forth and issuing out of (land.) Townsh. Pl. 17. EGYPTIANS, commonly called "Gyp- sies," are counterfeit rogues, Welsh or En- glish, that disguise themselves in speech and apparel, and wander up and down the coun- try, pretending to have skill in telling fort- unes, and to deceive the common people, but live chiefly by filching and stealing, and, therefore, the statutes of 1 & 2 Mar. c. 4, and 5 Eliz. c. 20, were made to punish such as felons if they departed not the realm or con- tinued to a month. Termes de la Ley. Eigne is probably a corrupt form of the French "ainé.” 2 Bl. Comm. 248; Litt. $399.
EGREDIENS ET EXEUNSmain
Burrill's Law Dictionary • 1867
In old pleading. L. Lat. Going forth and issuing out of (land). Towns. Pl. 17.
EGREDIENS ET EXEUNSmain
Black's Law Dictionary (2nd Ed.) • 1910
In old pleading. Going forth and issuing out of (land.) Townsh. Pl. 17. EGYPTIANS, commonly called “Gypsies,” (in old English statutes,) are counterfeit rogues, Welsh or English, that disguise themselves in speech and apparel, and wander up and down the country, pretending to have skill in telling fortunes, and to deceive the common people, but live chiefly by filching and stealing, and, therefore, the statutes of 1 & 2 Mar. c. 4, and 5 Eliz. c. 20, were made to punish such as felons if they departed not the realm or continued to a month. Termes de la Ley. Ei incumbit probatio, qui dicit, non qui negat; cum per rerum naturam faoctum negantis probatio nulla sit. The proof lies upon him who affirms, not upon him who denies; since, by the nature of: things, he who denies a fact cannot produce any proof. Ei nihil turpe, oni nihil satis. To him to whom nothing is enough, nothing is base. 4. Inst. 53. EIA, or EY. An island. Cowell.

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