PONERE

4 definitions found across Law Mind sources

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PONEREAuthored
The Law Mind • 517 words
Definition
A Latin verb meaning "to put, place, lay, or set." In legal contexts, *ponere* does not carry a single fixed legal meaning but functions as a root word and operative verb appearing throughout the Latin terminology and formulaic phrases of medieval English and Roman law. Its significance is almost entirely compositional: it gives meaning to dozens of compound legal terms and phrases rather than standing alone as a defined legal concept. In old English law, *ponere* carried a range of related but distinct applications depending on context: to impose an amercement or penalty, to place a party under surety or obligation, to submit a matter to judgment, or to lay a charge or tax. Burrill notes it as "a word of constant occurrence, and very various signification." ---
Why It Matters in Research
Researchers encountering *ponere* in historical legal texts are unlikely to find it as a standalone operative term in a pleading or judgment. Its importance is almost always derivative — it appears as part of a Latin phrase that carries the actual legal weight. Recognizing the root enables correct parsing of compound terms and phrases such as *ponere se super patriam* (to put oneself on the country, i.e., to submit to jury trial), *ponere in respectum* (to put in respite or delay), and similar constructions. The Magna Carta passage preserved in Burrill — *nulla prædictarum misericordiarum ponatur nisi per sacramentum proborum et legalium hominum* — illustrates the word's constitutional-adjacent usage in foundational documents. Researchers working with primary sources from the Year Books, early Chancery records, or pre-modern English statute text will encounter *ponere* in these embedded phrases repeatedly. Misreading or untranslated *ponere*-based phrases can cause a researcher to mischaracterize the procedural posture of a case or the nature of a charge. For corpus researchers in Law Mind, this entry functions primarily as a navigational anchor. Searching for *ponere* will surface terms and passages where the verb appears embedded in longer Latin constructions. The entry should be read in conjunction with entries for specific *ponere*-derived phrases rather than treated as a terminus. ---
Historical Dictionary Support
All three source dictionaries agree on the core translation: "to put, place, lay, or set." Black's (both editions) treats the entry concisely, noting only that the word appears frequently in old law Latin terms and phrases without enumerating them. Burrill is substantially more useful, providing contextual examples, a range of meanings, and a direct citation to Magna Carta, Chapter 14, grounding the term in a verifiable primary source. The gap between Burrill and the Black's entries is instructive: Black's treats *ponere* as a gloss, while Burrill treats it as a working vocabulary entry for practitioners navigating medieval sources. Neither source catalogs the full range of *ponere*-based compound phrases, meaning that the dictionary record is necessarily incomplete. Researchers should treat *ponere* entries as starting points, not comprehensive guides. ---
Related Terms
Ponere se super patriam — Ponere in respectum — Posse — Positio — Impositus — Amercement — Per patriam — Surety — Latin maxims (general)
PONEREmain
Black's Law Dictionary • 1891
Lat. To put, place, lay, or set. Often used in the Latin terms and phrases of the old law.
PONEREmain
Burrill's Law Dictionary • 1870
L. Lat. In old English law. To put. A word of constant occurrence, and very various signification. To put upon; to lay; to impose or assess, as an amercement or tax. Nulla prædictarum misericordiarum ponatur nisi per sacramentum proborum et legalium hominum, &c.; none of the aforesaid amercements shall be assessed, unless by the oath of good and lawful men, &c. Magna Charta, c. 14. Nullum tallagium vel auxilium ponatur seu levetur; no tallage or aid shall be imposed or levied. Stat. de Tallagio non Concedendo, c. 1. To put to; to compel. Ponere ad legem; to put to his law; to compel to wage his law. Fleta, lib. 2, c. 47, § 5. Id. c. 63, § 10. Mag. Cart. cited ibid. that land, and hold myself in that land. Id. fol. 19 b. Se ponere in rem locatam; to put himself into the thing let. Fleta, lib. 2, c. 59, § 3. To put upon; to rest upon or submit to, as a defendant did upon a jury. Ponit se super patriam; he puts himself upon the country. Bract. fol. 137 b. Ponit se super linguas vestras; puts himself upon your tongues; rests his fate upon your words. Id. fol. 143 b. Et inde ponat se super juratam; and thereof he should put himself upon the jury. Id. fol. 192 b. Said of the plaintiff. Id. ibid. Ponit se inde in Deo et magna assisa; put himself thereof on God and on the grand assise. Fleta, lib. 5, с. 39, § 1. To put under; to place under liability; as to put under pledge, or "by" pledge, in the ancient phrase. Pone per vadium et salvos plegios; put by gage and safe pledges. See Pone. Ponere per ballium; to put by bail. Rot. Cl. 1 Edw. I. m. 7. To put or place, in the sense of removal, as from one court to another. Pone coram justitiariis, &c. loquelam, &c.; put before the justices, &c. the plaint, &c.; that is, remove it. See Pone. To put upon; to place among; to record one's name with others as a juror. De non ponendis in assisis; for not putting on assises. The titles of several old writs. Reg. Orig. 179. F. N. B. 165. To put in; to put in the place; to substitute. Ponit loco suo; puts in his place. To put; to set or let. Ad firmam ponere; to put or let to farm. To put or set to; to affix, as a seal to an exception. See Apponere. To put, fix or assign; to give or assign a day. Tunc ponant ei diem à die visus sui; then shall they assign him a day from the day of viewing him. Bract. fol. 352 b. Fleta, lib. 6, c. 10, § 17. To put off, or postpone. Ponere in respectum; to put in respite. Mem. in Scacc. H. 22 Edw. I. Jurata ponitur in respectum; the jury is put in respite. Towns. Pl. 429. Ponatur judicium usque ad bancum; the judgment shall be put off to the bench. Fleta, lib. 4, c. 9, § 4.
Poneremain
Black's Law Dictionary (2nd Ed.) - Supplemental • 1910
Lat To put, place, lay, or set. • often used in the Latin terms aqd phrases of the old law

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