NIHIL - The Law Mind Legal Dictionary

NIHILAuthored

The Law Mind • 1136 words

Definition

Latin: "nothing." In legal usage, nihil functions in two distinct capacities:

1. As a substantive Latin term meaning "nothing," appearing throughout common law pleading, maxims, and procedural records wherever a complete absence, nullity, or non-existence is to be expressed. Contracted form: nil.

2. As a procedural shorthand — a return made by a sheriff or constable to a writ when service could not be effected. Standing alone, "nihil" is an abbreviated form of either "nihil est" (there is nothing; i.e., the defendant has no property or presence in the jurisdiction) or "nihil habet" (he has nothing; i.e., nothing found on which to levy). The full phrase used depended on the nature of the writ being returned.

Common Language

Modern common usage (Wiktionary): Nothingness, nonbeing; also used as a shorthand for nihil dicit.

Historical common usage (Webster's 1913): "Nothing." Webster's also catalogued several compound legal and chemical phrases: nihil debet (he owes nothing, the general issue in certain debt actions), nihil dicit (he says nothing, a declinature to plead), and the non-legal nihil album (oxide of zinc).

The gap between common and legal meaning is procedural rather than semantic. A general reader encountering "nihil" understands it simply as the Latin word for nothing. The legal researcher must further recognize it as a term of art in writ practice — a formal sheriff's return carrying specific procedural consequences distinct from mere nothingness.

Recognized Forms

/SUBTYPES

NIHIL EST — "There is nothing." A sheriff's return indicating that the defendant was not found and has no presence or property in the jurisdiction sufficient to support service or levy.

NIHIL HABET — "He has nothing." A return indicating that the defendant has no goods or chattels upon which execution can be levied. Used primarily in response to writs of fieri facias and similar process.

NIHIL DICIT — "He says nothing." A default arising when a defendant declines or fails to plead after appearance. Distinct from a default for failure to appear; nihil dicit presupposes the defendant is before the court but refuses to answer. Historically, judgment nihil dicit was treated as a confession of the plaintiff's declaration.

NIHIL CAPIAT PER BREVE — "That he take nothing by his writ." The form of judgment entered against a plaintiff, whether on a plea in bar or a plea in abatement, terminating the action in the defendant's favor.

NIHIL DEBET — "He owes nothing." The general issue in certain actions of debt, by which the defendant denies any obligation.

Why It Matters in Research

Nihil is a recurring term in historical court records, writ returns, and procedural documents, and its meaning shifts entirely depending on context. A researcher reading a sheriff's return will encounter it as a standalone procedural notation; a researcher reading pleading records will encounter nihil dicit as a specific type of default; a researcher tracing debt actions will encounter nihil debet as a plea form. Conflating these uses produces misreadings of the procedural posture of a case.

The abbreviated return "nihil" — without any qualifying word — is the most likely source of confusion in manuscript court records. Early American and English court papers often used the single word as the entire return, relying on the nature of the underlying writ to supply whether the fuller phrase would have been nihil est or nihil habet. Researchers should identify the writ type before interpreting the return.

In the Law Mind corpus, nihil and its compounds appear across procedural treatises, form books, and annotated practice materials. Searches for nil will retrieve contracted usages that are substantively identical but typographically distinct from nihil.

The maxim quoted in Black's first edition — nihil aliud potest rex quam quod de jure potest (the king can do nothing except what he can do by law) — is a constitutional-inflection point with implications for sovereign authority and judicial review threads in the corpus. It connects to materials on royal prerogative and early constitutional limitation.

Historical Dictionary Support

Black's first and second editions agree on the core definition and the procedural return usage, with the second edition offering substantially more detail on the compound phrases and the specific judgment form nihil capiat per breve. Both treat "nihil" as primarily a procedural term when appearing alone, glossing the fuller phrases as the operative legal forms.

Rapalje & Lawrence's entry in the provided source material does not directly address nihil, the citation block appearing to be misaligned with an adjacent entry. This is a known feature of dense 19th-century dictionary columns and is itself a caution to corpus researchers: page-break and column-break artifacts in scanned legal dictionaries can produce apparent cross-contamination between entries.

Webster's 1913 is unusually useful here, cataloguing several compound legal phrases that the strictly legal dictionaries treat only in their own separate entries. For historical research purposes, Webster's compounds (nihil debet, nihil dicit) confirm that these phrases had passed sufficiently into general educated usage by the late 19th century to merit inclusion in a standard reference work — useful context for gauging their prevalence in non-specialist documents.

None of the historical sources address the use of nihil in modern civil procedure contexts, where the old common-law return and plea forms have been largely displaced by rule-based practice. Researchers working in post-1938 federal materials or post-code state practice will rarely encounter the procedural forms; the term persists mainly in maxims and historical commentary.

Jurisdictional Note

The compound forms — nihil dicit, nihil habet, nihil est — were standard across common-law jurisdictions in England and the American states through the 19th century. Code pleading reform and, federally, the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure (1938) largely eliminated the formal plea and return structures in which these terms operated. Some states retained or adapted elements of common-law writ practice longer than others; researchers working in pre-code state court records should consult jurisdiction-specific practice manuals to determine which forms were locally recognized.

NIHILmain

Black's Law Dictionary • 1891

Nothing. Also the name of a return made by a sheriff, etc., when the cir- cumstances warrant it. Nihil aliud potest rex quam quod de jure potest. 11 Coke, 74. The king can do nothing except what he can by law do.

NIHILmain

Black's Law Dictionary (2nd Ed.) • 1910

Lat. Nothing. Often contracted to “nil.”’ The word standing alone is the name of an abbreviated form of return to a writ made by a sheriff or constable, the fuller form of which would be “nihil est” or “nihil habet,” according to circumstances. —Nihil capiat eer breve. In practice. That he take nothing by his writ. The form of judgment against the plaintiff in an action, either in bar or in abatement. When the plaintiff has commenced his proceedings by bill, the judgment is nihil capiat per billam. Co. Litt. 363.—Nihil dicit. He says nothing. This is the name of the judgment which may be taken as ‘of course against a defendant who omits to plead or answer the plaintiff's declaration or complaint within the time limited. In some jurisdictions it is otherwise known as judgment “for want of a plea.” See Gilder v. McIntyre, 29 Tex. 91: Falken v. Housatonic R. Co., 63 Conn, 258, 27 Atl. 1117; Wilbur v. Maynard, 6 Colo. 486.—Nihil est. There is nothing. A form of return made by a sheriff when he has been unable to serve the writ. “Although non est inventus is the more frequent return in such a case, yet it is by no means as full an answer to the command of the writ as is the return of nthil, That amounts to an averment that the defendant has nothing in the bailiwick, no dwelling-house, no family, no residence, and no personal presence to enable the officer to make the service required by the act of assembly. It is therefore a full answer to the exigency of the writ.” Sherer v. Easton Bank, 33 Pa. 139. —Nihil habet. He has nothing. The name of a return made by a sheriff to a scire factas or other writ which he has been unable to serve on the defendant. : Nihil aliud potest rex quam quod de jure potest. 11 Coke, 74. The king can do nothing except what he can by law do. Nihil consensui tam contrarium est quam vis atque metus. Nothing is so opposed to consent as force and fear. Dig. 50, 17, 116. Nihil de re accrescit ei qui nihil in re quando jus accresceret habet. Co. Litt. 188. Nothing of a matter accrues to him who, when the right accrues, has nothing in that matter. Nihil dictum quod non dictum prius. Nothing is said which was not said before. Said of a case where former arguments were repeated. Ilurdr. 464. Nihil est enim liberale quod non idem justum. For there is nothing generous which is not at the sume time just. 2 Kent, Comm. 441, note a. 818 NIHIL QUOD EST INCONVENIENS& Nihil est magis ration{i consentancum quam eodem modo gquodgue dissolvere quo conflatum est. Nothing is more con sonant to reason than that a thing should be dissolved or discharged in the same way in which it was created. Shep. Touch. 323. Nihil facit error nominis cum de corpore constat. 11 Coke, 21. An error as to a name is nothing when there is certainty as to the person. Nihil habet foram ex scena. The court has nothing to do with what is not before it. Bac. Max. Nihil in lege intolerabilius est [quam ] eandem rem diverso jure censeri. Noth-- ing is more intolerable in law than that the same matter, thing, or case should be subject to different views of law. 4 Coke, 93a. Applied to the difference of opinion entertained by different courts, as to the law of a particular case. Id. Nihil infra regnum subditos magis conservat in tranqguilitate et concordia quam debita logum administratio. Nothing preserves in tranquillity and concord those who are subjected to the same government better than a due administration of the laws. 2 Inst. 158. Nihil iniquius quam squitatem nimis intendere. Nothing is more unjust than to extend equity too far. Halk. 103. Nihil magis justum est quam quod necessarium est. Nothing is more just than that which Js necessary. Dav. Ir. K. B. 12: Branch, Prine. Nihil nequam est presumendum. Nothing wicked is to be presumed. 2 P. Wms. - 583. Nihil perfectum est dum aliguid restat agendum. Nothing is perfect ‘while anything remains to be done. 9 Coke, 9b. Nihil peti potest ante id tempus quo per ‘rerum naturam persolvi possit. Nothing can be demanded before the time when, by the nature of things, it can be paid. Dig. 50, 17, 186. Nihil possumus contra voritatom. We can do nothing against truth. Doct. & Stud. dial. 2, c 6. Nihil prescribitur nisi quod possidetur. There is no prescription for that which is not possessed. 5 Barn. & Ald. 277. ' Nihil quod est contra rationem est licitum. Nothing that is against reason is Iawful. Co. Litt. 970. Nihil quod est inconveniens est licitum. Nothing that is inconvenient is law-

NIHILmain

Rapalje & Lawrence • 1883

(867) 166; 43 III. 338; 4 Abb. (N. Y.) Pr. 312; 13 Id. NIECE. -The daughter of a brother or 110; 32 Barb. (Ν. Υ.) 25, 28; 34 Id. 410; 15 sister. See NEPHEW, as to the degree of How. (N. Y.) Pr. 182; 17 Ohio St. 367; 28 Id. 192; 4 Desaus. (S. C.) 409 n. NEXT OF KIN, (in a will). 113 Mass. 430; 11 Metc. (Mass.) 23; 43 Barb. (N. Y.) 147;63 How. (N. Y.) Pr. 360, 361; 67 N. Y. 387; 69 Id. 36; 72 Id. 312; 5 Ired. (N. C.) L. 382; 63 N. C. 242; 3 East 278, 290; Forrester 251 п.; 3 L. J. Ch. N. s. 17; 4 Id. 200; L. R. 3 Ch. 505;L. R. 5 Eq. 303; 9 Id. 622; 4 Ves. 649; 14 Id. 372; 15 Id. 536; 4 Com. Dig. 154; 8 Id. 474. Iconsanguinity. NIECE, (in a will). 3 Barb. (N. Y.) Ch. 466. NIECES, (in a will). 13 Cent. L. J. 5, and cases cited. NIEF.-See NEIFE. (868) :

NIHILn.

Websters Unabridged Dictionary (1913) • 1913

Nothing. Nihil album Etym: [L., white nothing] (Chem.), oxide of zinc. See under Zinc.  -- Nihil debet Etym: [L., he owes nothing] (Law), the general issue in certain actions of debt.  -- Nihil dicit Etym: [L., he says nothing] (Law), a declinature by the defendant to plead or answer. Tomlins.

nihilnoun

Wiktionary (English) • 2026

Wiktionary contributors • CC 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 nihil dicit. | nothingness, nonbeing

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