FRA

7 definitions found across Law Mind sources

FRAAuthored
The Law Mind • 839 words
Definition
Fra is a Law French and Law Latin term meaning "shall do" or "shall make." It appears in medieval English legal instruments, statutes, and pleading formulas as a contracted or inflected form of the Old French *faire* (to do, to make). In context, it functions as a future indicative: a party *fra* some act is a party who shall perform or execute it. The term is found most characteristically in statutory and formulaic legal texts of the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries. Burrill records its use in *Stat. Westm. 1, c. 26* in the phrase *Et que le fra* — "and whoever shall do so" — illustrating its role as a standard shorthand in Norman-influenced statutory drafting. ---
Common Language
Modern common usage (Wiktionary): A short form of the given name Francis. Historical common usage (Webster's 1913): Recorded as a variant of "fro," as in "to and fro," the Old English and Scottish adverb indicating backward motion. Neither common meaning has any connection to the legal term. A researcher encountering *fra* in a historical legal text should not read it as a personal name or directional adverb. Its legal function is entirely verbal and formulaic, derived from the Law French conjugation of *faire*. ---
Common Confusion
Fra should not be confused with *fieri* (Latin: to be made or done, as in *fieri facias*) or with *faciat* (Latin: let him make). These Latin forms serve related functions in formal writs, but *fra* is distinctively Law French in register and appears in the vernacular statutory drafting style that characterized English legislation in the period immediately following the Statute of Pleading (1362) and its predecessors. Researchers working across both Latin and Law French sources in the same corpus may encounter functionally equivalent terms in different registers. ---
Why It Matters in Research
Fra is a navigational term for researchers working in pre-modern English statutory and formulaic legal text. Its significance is almost entirely archival: it signals you are reading Law French statutory drafting, typically from the thirteenth through fifteenth centuries, and the surrounding text will follow the condensed, formulaic conventions of that tradition. Several traps exist for the unwary. First, *fra* is easily misread or silently skipped in transcriptions and regests of early statutes, particularly where editors modernized or translated Law French passages without annotation. A gap in a translated statute may conceal an operative verbal phrase. Second, the contracted forms common to Law French (*fra*, *soit*, *ferra*, *voet*) do not follow standard Modern French conjugation, and researchers relying on French-language competence alone may misread tense, mood, or person. Third, Burrill's dictionary, the primary historical source capturing this term, provides only a brief gloss; researchers needing fuller grammatical context should turn to specialized Law French glossaries such as Kelham's *Dictionary of the Norman or Old French Language* (1779) or Tomlins and Granger's *Law Dictionary*. Corpus connections: *Fra* will appear most frequently in Law Mind resources covering Statutes of Westminster, early parliamentary rolls, and formulary collections. It is less likely to appear in equity pleadings, common law reports, or post-seventeenth-century materials, where Law French had largely been displaced or was preserved only in fixed ceremonial phrases. ---
Historical Dictionary Support
Burrill's Law Dictionary provides the primary surviving legal dictionary treatment. Burrill situates *fra* directly within its statutory context — the phrase *Et que le fra* from *Stat. Westm. 1, c. 26* — and derives it from *faire*, correctly identifying it as Law French. The entry is brief and functional, consistent with Burrill's general treatment of Law French particles, which he tends to gloss rather than analyze. No other major historical law dictionaries in the standard reference shelf (Bouvier, Black, Jacob) include a separate entry for *fra* as a standalone term. This is not unusual; Law French verbal forms of this type were typically recorded only in specialized glossaries or as incidental entries in broader dictionaries. The absence of the term from Black's and Bouvier's reflects both the chronological distance of those works from active Law French practice and their American orientation, where Law French had no surviving institutional presence. What historical sources collectively miss: none of the standard dictionaries situates *fra* within the broader grammatical system of Law French statutory drafting. Researchers needing that context must look outside the law dictionary tradition entirely. ---
Jurisdictional Note
Fra is an archaic term with no active jurisdictional significance. Its relevance is confined to historical English law and the texts produced under Norman and Angevin legal administration. It has no usage in American, Scottish, or civil law traditions. ---
Related Terms
Faire — Law French root verb (to doto make) Fieri — Latin equivalent used in formal writs Faciat — Latin subjunctive form used in writ drafting Law French — the linguistic register in which this term operates Statute of Westminster I — primary statutory source for the term's recorded use Fieri facias — writ tradition sharing functional parallel Formulary — documentary form collections where such terms appear in context
FRAmain
Burrill's Law Dictionary • 1867
( 655 ) c. 45. the four seas the day it was levied. 4 Co. nostre brefe; we will make our writ. Britt. 125. Within the four seas is as much as to say, within the jurisdiction of the king of England. 2 Inst. 253. L. Fr. [from faire, q. v.] Shall do or make. Et que le fra; and whoever shall do so. Stat. Westm. 1, c. 26. Frons recipit lex. Lofft's R. Appendix 572. Therefore, where an act is to be done, as money to be paid on a certain day, it is sufficient if it be paid at any time during the day, that is, before twelve o'clock at night. 2 Bl. Com. 141. The law, however, does admit of the fraction of a day in certain cases, where it is necessary to distinguish for the purposes of justice, [as where two acts are done on the same day, and it is important to show which was actually done first ;] and according to Lord Mansfield, an hour may admit of a similar division, where it is necessary, and can be done, for it is not like a mathematical point which cannot be divided. 3 Burr. 1434. Sce 4 Kent's Com. 95, note. 11 Howard's R. 411. (656) an absolute right to real estate, as dislaw. Id. 459. See 2 Hilliard's Real tinguished from a tenure. Brande. In Prop. 45-74. old French law, it is often simply called aleu, or alleu. Esprit des Lois, liv. 31, c. 8. See Alleu. (657) ibid. cos; before twelve good free Salic men. pressly reserved by the statute 12 Car. II. Spelman. Form. Solenn. c. 168, cited c. 24. Id. 101. See Eleemosyna. "Frank almoign or lay fee," was a common issue in the old books. Yearb. T. 1 Edw. II. 11. (658) not deemed to be othesworth, (that is, not worthy of making oath,) nor allowed to give testimony. Perpetuam infamiam incurrant, et legem terræ amittant, et ita quod nunquam postea ad sacramentum admittantur, quia de cætero non erunt othesworth, nec ad testimonium recipientur. Bract. fol. 292 b. This was one of the punishments of jurors who had been convicted of perjury. Id. ibid. See Amittere liberam legem, Othesworth, Liber et legalis homo, Law-worth. ***This term has been very generally defined, "the privilege of the law's protection," and "the benefit of the free and common law of the land." Holthouse. Wharton's Lex. But that it had a more particular and determinate meaning is clear both from the testimony of the ancient writers, and from the peculiar signification of the word law, which, from a very early period, denoted an oath, or the taking or making of an oath; as in the common expressions wager of law, and making law. A lawful man, (legalis homo,) was one who was competent to be sworn as a juror or witness; and the word lawful is used in this sense in jury process, to this day. 3 Bl. Com. 340, 341, 352. See Lawworth. (659) or deceive another; (omnem calliditatem, fallaciam, machinationem ad circumveniendum, fallendum, decipiendum alterum adhibitam.) Dig. 4. 3. 1. 2. Id. 2. 14. 7. 9.-Every kind of artifice made use of by one person for the purpose of deceiving another; (toute espece d'artifice, dont quelque un se sert pour entromper un autre.) Pothier, Traite des Oblig. part 1, c. 1, sec. 1, art. 3, § 3. Both these definitions are quoted with approval by Mr. Justice Story, who observes of the former, "This definition is, beyond doubt, sufficiently descriptive of what may be called positive, actual fraud, where there is an intention to commit a cheat or deceit upon another, to his injury. But it can hardly be said to include the large class of implied or constructive frauds which are within the remedial jurisdiction of a court of equity. Fraud, indeed, in the sense of a court of equity, properly includes all acts, omissions and concealments which involve a breach of legal or equitable duty, trust or confidence justly reposed, and are injurious to another, or by which an undue and unconscientious advantage is taken of another." 1 Story's Equity Jur. § 187. See 2 Kent's Com. 483, note. The difficulty of giving any precise definition of fraud has been frequently admitted. See observations of Ware, J. 3 Story's R. 611, 634. See Jeremy's Equity Jurisd. 383, and the opinion of Lord Chancellor Hardwicke, in Chesterfield v. Janssen, in which the different species of frauds against which equity will give relief, were classified. 2 Vesey, 125. 1 White's Equity Cases, 344. As to fraud in sales or mortgages of chattels, see 2 Kent's Com. 512 -532, and notes. As to fraud in voluntary assignments for the benefit of creditors, see Id. 532-536. Burrill on Assignments, chap. xxxii.
FRAadv.
Websters Unabridged Dictionary (1913) • 1913
Fro. [Old Eng. & Scot.]
FRAn.
Websters Unabridged Dictionary (1913) • 1913
Brother; -- a title of a monk of friar; as, Fra Angelo. Longfellow.
Franame
Wiktionary (English) • 2026
Wiktionary contributorsCC BY-SA 4.0 • via Kaikki
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Short form of Francis.
fraadv
Wiktionary (English) • 2026
Wiktionary contributorsCC BY-SA 4.0 • via Kaikki
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Archaic form of fro.
Franoun
Wiktionary (English) • 2026
Wiktionary contributorsCC BY-SA 4.0 • via Kaikki
Extracted and formatted for display by Law Mind. Source link opens the current Wiktionary page and its contributor history; it is not a frozen copy of this extract.
a title for a Roman Catholic monk or friar; equivalent to Brother

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