Definition
A Latin term from medieval English legal usage meaning "to indict" — that is, to formally charge a person with a crime by means of a grand jury presentment or similar accusatory instrument. The past participial form, indictatus, means "indicted" or "one who has been indicted." The term appears in early English legal records and treatises as the Latin root underlying the anglicized verb "to indict" and its related forms.
Why It Matters in Research
Researchers working in medieval and early modern English legal records will encounter indictare and indictatus in Latin pleadings, writs, and treatises where the vernacular English form had not yet displaced the Latin. The key navigational point is that indictare is not a freestanding doctrine but the Latin infrastructure for the English law of indictment — understanding the term primarily means understanding what it points to.
When tracing the procedural history of indictment, note that Burrill signals a terminological transition: the person indicted was "anciently called indictee," a usage confirmed by reference to Stat. 21 Jac. I. c. 8. That statute-era label fell away over time, and modern usage settles on "defendant" or simply "the indicted party." Researchers should not assume that indictee carries the same procedural weight in early sources as defendant does in later ones — the distinction can matter when reconstructing the rights and standing of the accused at different points in proceedings.
The sources cited by Burrill — Bracton (fol. 143, 153), Fleta (lib. 1, c. 25, § 3), the Statute of Westminster II (c. 46), and the Registrum Omnium Brevium (Reg. Orig. 269, 270) — collectively place indictare firmly in the thirteenth and fourteenth century common law tradition. Bracton and Fleta are foundational treatises of that period; Westminster II (1285) is a landmark statutory source. When reading any of these works, expect Latin forms throughout, and expect indictare or indictatus to appear in passages describing the mechanics of accusation before royal courts.
A practical trap: in ecclesiastical and continental legal sources of the same period, cognate Latin terms for accusation and denunciation carry distinct procedural meanings that do not map onto the English grand jury process. Context — specifically, whether the source concerns English common law courts or civilian and canon law proceedings — is essential before inferring meaning.
Historical Dictionary Support
Burrill's entry is spare but precise. It identifies the term as "L. Lat." (Law Latin, as distinct from classical Latin), correctly situates it in old English law, and supplies the core textual anchors without elaboration. The entry cross-references "Indict," signaling that the substantive doctrine lives under the anglicized form and that indictare is primarily a terminological gateway.
Burrill's note on the ancient usage of "indictee" via Blount and Stat. 21 Jac. I. c. 8 is the most historically distinctive piece of information in the entry. Thomas Blount's Nomo-Lexicon (1670) was a standard source for archaic legal terms, and its endorsement of indictee as the historical label for the accused is consistent with the early modern English legal vocabulary of that period.
No other historical dictionary in the Law Mind corpus covers this term. Researchers needing deeper treatment of the procedural law behind indictare should move directly to the entries for INDICT and INDICTMENT.