Definition
Entry carries distinct meanings depending on context. The four principal legal senses are:
1. REAL PROPERTY (possessory entry). The act of going peaceably upon land claimed as one's own but held by another, with the intention of asserting possession. Entry is a self-help remedy available to a person ousted of land by a wrongdoer whose original taking was unlawful — specifically in cases of abatement, intrusion, and disseisin. Where the wrong arose through discontinuance or deforcement, entry alone is insufficient and the dispossessed party must proceed by action rather than self-help.
2. RIGHT OF ENTRY. A future interest in real property: the power to reclaim possession of land upon the occurrence of a specified condition. A right of entry (also called a power of termination) differs from a reversion in that it does not vest automatically — the holder must act affirmatively to exercise it. Two subtypes are recognized: an original (or mere) right of entry, arising from disseisin or determination of an estate; and a right of entry for condition broken, reserved in a conveyance.
3. COMMERCIAL AND ACCOUNTING. The act of recording a transaction in a merchant's or tradesman's account books. Such entries serve an evidentiary function: original entries are generally admissible as prima facie evidence of sale, delivery, or work performed; copies or secondary entries do not carry the same weight.
4. CUSTOMS AND REVENUE. The submission of goods and their particulars to customs officers for inspection and clearance. Entry in this sense is a formal act triggering regulatory obligations and determining duties.
A fifth, procedural sense — entry of a plea, judgment, or order — denotes the official recording of a court proceeding or ruling, converting it into a matter of record.
Common Language
Modern common usage (Wiktionary): The act of entering; permission to enter; a doorway providing a means of entering a building; the act of taking possession; a small room immediately inside a front door; a passageway between terraced houses.
Historical common usage (Webster's 1913): The act of entering or passing into or upon; entrance; ingress; hence, beginnings or first attempts; also, the act of making or entering a record; a setting down in writing the particulars of a transaction.
The common-language definitions capture physical passage and recordkeeping — meanings that are also present in legal usage. What the ordinary definitions miss is the technical weight the law attaches to entry: in property law, entry is a formal legal act with precise doctrinal consequences for possession and rights, not merely a physical movement. The right of entry is an interest in property, not a description of walking through a door.
Core Elements
For possessory entry as a self-help remedy to be effective:
— The entrant must have a claim of right to possession
— Entry must be peaceable (not by force)
— The original wrong must be of a type remediable by entry (abatement, intrusion, disseisin) rather than types requiring action (discontinuance, deforcement)
— Entry must be made with the intent to assert dominion, not merely to inspect or pass through
For a right of entry for condition broken:
— A grantor must have conveyed a fee simple subject to condition subsequent, expressly reserving the power of termination
— The condition must have been broken
— The holder must make an affirmative election to terminate the estate; the interest does not expire automatically
Recognized Forms
/SUBTYPES
ACTUAL ENTRY vs. ENTRY IN LAW. Actual entry occurs when the claimant personally goes upon the land. Entry in law (constructive entry) is a fictitious or legal equivalent recognized when physical entry is impossible or unnecessary — as where a deed is executed with sufficient formality to constitute symbolic taking of seisin. The distinction was operative under common law pleading and remains relevant in jurisdictions preserving historical real property doctrine.
ORIGINAL (MERE) RIGHT OF ENTRY. A right of entry arising from disseisin or natural determination of an estate, carrying no additional claim beyond the right to resume possession. Historically inalienable at common law; now generally transferable by deed in England and in most American jurisdictions by statute.
RIGHT OF ENTRY FOR CONDITION BROKEN. A future interest retained by a grantor (or their successor) in a fee simple subject to condition subsequent. This right does not terminate the grantee's estate automatically upon breach; the holder must elect to exercise it. Distinguished from a possibility of reverter, which operates automatically upon occurrence of the limiting event in a fee simple determinable.
ENTRY OF RECORD (PROCEDURAL). The official docketing or recording of a plea, judgment, order, or decree by a court. Entry is the act that gives an adjudication its legal effect and starts the running of appeal periods.
Why It Matters in Research
Entry is among the most polysemous terms in the Law Mind corpus. A researcher encountering "entry" in a historical source must determine immediately which of the four principal meanings is operative — the contexts are not always labeled, and historical writers frequently shift between senses within the same passage.
In property law research, the most important navigational distinction is between entry as a self-help act and a right of entry as a future interest. Historical sources — particularly those addressing the old real actions — use "entry" primarily in the possessory sense. Later equity and conveyancing materials shift toward "right of entry" as a technical interest. Researchers tracing the evolution of future interests should consult the Property Law Encyclopedia entry on Future Interests, which situates the right of entry alongside reversion and possibility of reverter.
The limitation of entry as a self-help remedy is a significant doctrinal point that many historical dictionary entries treat briefly. Black's first edition and Rapalje & Lawrence both note that entry works only against unlawful original possession (abatement, intrusion, disseisin) and fails against discontinuance or deforcement — distinctions that are obsolete in most modern American contexts but are essential for interpreting historical pleadings and conveyancing disputes.
In commercial law research, the evidentiary rule for original entries (prima facie evidence of sale and delivery) appears across multiple sources but with variation on what qualifies as "original." Researchers using historical account books or merchant records as documentary evidence should be alert to this threshold.
For criminal and procedural research, "entry of plea" is a term of art distinct from the substantive plea itself; the Criminal Law Encyclopedia entry on Arraignment and Entry of Plea addresses the procedural mechanics. Entry of judgment — when a judgment becomes operative for purposes of appeal deadlines, execution, and finality — is an entirely separate matter that is easy to confuse with the moment of judicial pronouncement.
Customs and revenue uses of entry appear primarily in admiralty, taxation, and trade regulation sources. These are the least likely to be confused with property senses but are heavily concentrated in a specific body of regulatory literature.
Historical Dictionary Support
The historical dictionaries are in broad agreement on the possessory meaning of entry in real property law but differ in completeness and emphasis. Black's first edition gives the fullest treatment of entry as a self-help remedy, specifying the three categories of wrong (abatement, intrusion, disseisin) for which entry lies and distinguishing them from discontinuance and deforcement, where action is required. This functional limitation is important and not consistently noted by all sources.
Rapalje & Lawrence contributes the most precise treatment of the actual/constructive entry distinction, giving the example of a deed executed as constructive entry and emphasizing that entry can be made by a representative such as a guardian or lessee — not solely by the claimant in person. Their treatment of original versus mere right of entry is also more developed than in most other shelf sources.
Bouvier's Law Dictionary shifts focus to the commercial and revenue senses, treating the account-book entry at length and noting its evidentiary weight as prima facie evidence. Bouvier gives explicit attention to the limitations of non-original entries, a point that other dictionaries elide. Bouvier also addresses the customs and revenue meaning, connecting entry to the submission of goods for inspection — a usage the other sources largely ignore.
Anderson's Dictionary of Law provides context on the interplay between right of entry and marital property doctrine, noting that upon a husband's death, the wife or her heir could enter without action against an alienee — a specific application of the right of entry in a coverture context. The statutory reference to 32 Hen. VIII c. 28 and its American reception (Kentucky, Massachusetts, Tennessee) is a useful navigational point for researchers working on early American property law.
What the historical dictionaries largely omit: the procedural sense of "entry" as the official recording of court proceedings is not treated as a separate definition in most shelf sources, even though it was operationally significant in common law pleading. Researchers should not rely on historical dictionaries alone to understand entry of judgment or entry of plea.
Jurisdictional Note
The self-help possessory entry remedy has been substantially curtailed in most American jurisdictions by statutes requiring resort to unlawful detainer, ejectment, or summary possession proceedings rather than peaceable self-help. The right of entry for condition broken remains a recognized future interest across common law jurisdictions, though statutes of limitation on its exercise vary significantly. England has largely codified the relevant rules through the Law of Property Act 1925.
Encyclopedia Cross-Reference
Future Interests — Reversion, Possibility of Reverter, Right of Entry (The Law Mind Property Law Encyclopedia)
Arraignment and Entry of Plea (The Law Mind Criminal Law Encyclopedia)