Definition
"Let it be done as it is asked." A Latin formulaic phrase used in court proceedings and petitionary practice to signify that a petition, motion, or request is granted in the terms submitted, without modification. When a judge or clerk endorsed or issued a fiat ut petitur on a document, it operated as a formal authorization that the relief requested was approved as presented. The phrase functions as a judicial or quasi-judicial command rather than a reasoned order — it signals assent to the specific form and substance of what was asked.
Common Language
This is pure legal Latin with no meaningful counterpart in ordinary English usage. The phrase has no common-language meaning separate from its legal function. The individual words — fiat ("let it be done"), ut ("as"), petitur ("it is asked") — are recognizable to Latin readers but the phrase as a unit belongs entirely to the procedural vocabulary of law. The COMMON LANGUAGE section is omitted accordingly.
Common Confusion
FIAT UT PETITUR vs. FIAT: The broader term fiat (Latin: "let it be done") appears in several distinct legal contexts — as a judicial sanction, as an authorization for a writ, and in modern usage in phrases like "fiat currency" or executive fiat. Fiat ut petitur is a specific subset of fiat language, limited to the granting of petitions in the precise terms requested. Conflating the two leads to misreading historical documents: a bare fiat may carry conditions or may authorize a specific procedural step, while fiat ut petitur specifically confirms that no modification was made to the relief sought.
Why It Matters in Research
Researchers working in historical court records, chancery proceedings, or older equity practice will encounter this phrase as a marginal notation or endorsement on petitions and writs. Its appearance signals two things: the petition was granted, and it was granted without alteration — the court did not substitute its own language or conditions. This distinction matters because some grants of petitions were accompanied by modifications; fiat ut petitur indicates no such departure occurred.
The phrase is most likely to appear in English ecclesiastical court records, equity filings, and early American chancery practice through the nineteenth century, where Latin formulae remained in routine use. After the abolition or reform of distinct equity courts in most American jurisdictions and the gradual abandonment of Latin legal forms in the mid-to-late nineteenth century, the phrase fell out of active use. Modern practice has no equivalent formula, though the concept survives in the simple notation "granted" or "so ordered."
Researchers should be cautious not to confuse fiat ut petitur with the broader term fiat, which has several distinct legal applications and carried different meanings in different procedural contexts. See COMMON CONFUSION below.
Historical Dictionary Support
Black's Law Dictionary defines fiat ut petitur as "Let it be done as it is asked. A form of granting a petition." This is accurate, minimal, and consistent with the phrase's actual historical function. The definition does not elaborate on the procedural contexts in which the phrase appeared, nor does it distinguish between judicial and ministerial uses — an omission that can matter when interpreting old records. Historical dictionaries do not substantially disagree on this phrase; its meaning is stable and narrow. The weakness in the historical dictionary record is the absence of context: researchers learning only Black's definition may not appreciate that the phrase was a live endorsement formula with specific procedural implications, not merely a translation curiosity.