Definition
In Scots law, a grandson. The term appears in historical Scottish legal sources, particularly in documents concerning succession, inheritance, and family relationships, where the precise degree of descent carried legal significance.
---
Why It Matters in Research
Researchers encountering NEPUOY in historical Scottish legal documents should treat it as a technical term of art, not a typographical variant or corruption of a more familiar word. Its significance lies almost entirely in succession and inheritance contexts, where the distinction between son, grandson, and more remote descendants determined rights to property, title, and intestate shares under Scots law.
The primary trap is misidentification. A researcher unfamiliar with the term might skip past it or misread it as a scribal error. It is neither. It is a precise relational descriptor functioning in the same documentary space as terms like "heir," "issue," and "descendant."
Because the term is drawn from Old Scots, it surfaces in pre-Union (pre-1707) Scottish legal instruments, court records, and conveyancing documents. After the Acts of Union and the gradual Anglicization of Scottish legal drafting conventions, NEPUOY fades from practical use. Researchers working in post-Union Scottish sources will rarely encounter it; those working in medieval or early modern Scots legal texts should keep it in active vocabulary.
The Skene reference anchors all three historical dictionaries. Sir John Skene's *De Verborum Significatione* (1597) is the authoritative glossary of Scots legal terms from the period, and its inclusion here signals that NEPUOY was sufficiently specialized to require explanation even in its own era.
---
Historical Dictionary Support
Black's Law Dictionary (both the first and second editions) and Burrill's Law Dictionary are in complete agreement: NEPUOY means "grandson" in Scots law, and all three entries cite Skene as the source. Burrill adds the cross-reference "Skene de Verb. Sign. voc. Eneya," directing readers to Skene's entry under the related term ENEYA—itself another Old Scots term for grandson or descendant. This cross-reference is the more useful lead for corpus research, as ENEYA appears in the same documentary tradition and may appear alongside or instead of NEPUOY in historical sources.
None of the historical dictionaries provide any contextual analysis of how the term functioned within succession law, nor do they distinguish it from related generational terms. Researchers should not expect the dictionary record to carry them far; primary sources and Skene's original text will do more work.
---
Jurisdictional Note
NEPUOY is exclusively a Scots law term. It has no recognized meaning in English common law, Welsh law, or Irish legal traditions. Researchers working in jurisdictions outside Scotland have no occasion to encounter it in operative legal documents.
---