Definition
A Latin term meaning "bearing." Used in legal instruments and pleadings to describe a document as carrying or bearing a particular attribute — most commonly a date. The phrase *gerens datum* means "bearing date" and appears in formal legal writing to indicate that a document bears a date on its face.
Why It Matters in Research
Researchers encountering *gerens* in historical legal documents or pleadings should treat it as a term of description attached to instruments — deeds, writs, bonds, and similar documents — where the bearing of a date was legally significant. Whether a document bore a date, and what that date was, could affect questions of priority, validity, and enforceability. The phrase *gerens datum* appears in early English case law and was a standard formula in formal drafting. Researchers working with pre-19th century pleading records, conveyancing documents, or early common law reports are most likely to encounter it. The term has no meaningful modern usage and will not appear in contemporary legal instruments or statutes.
Historical Dictionary Support
All three source dictionaries agree precisely: *gerens* means "bearing," and the primary legal application is *gerens datum*, bearing date. Black's (both editions) and Burrill's cite the same two authorities — 1 Ld. Raym. 336 and Hob. 19 — indicating the term's usage was narrow and well-established. Burrill adds the grammatical note that *gerens* derives from *gerere*, to bear, which confirms its function as a participial descriptor. None of the sources suggests any meaning beyond this single application. The brevity of all three entries reflects the term's limited scope: it was a functional Latin particle in formal drafting, not a term of legal art with substantive doctrinal content.