Definition
A procedural term meaning to place a document, pleading, or item of evidence before a court in proper legal form, or to place it among the official records of a court. "Putting in" a document means formally presenting or filing it so that it becomes part of the court's record and may be acted upon in the proceedings.
The phrase most commonly appears in older procedural contexts: to "put in" a plea is to formally enter it; to "put in" evidence is to formally tender it for the court's consideration; to "put in" bail is to formally present sureties to the court. In each use, the phrase signals a completed act of formal legal presentation — the document or matter has passed from a party's possession into the court's official sphere.
Common Language
Modern common usage (Wiktionary): To place inside something; to apply or submit; to contribute; to install or deliver; to make a telephone call; to plant a crop; to call at a port.
Historical common usage (Webster's 1913): To place within; to insert; to thrust or drive in.
The gap between common and legal usage here is primarily one of formality and consequence. In everyday English, "put in" is casual and directional — placing one thing inside another. In legal procedural usage, the phrase carries technical weight: placing something "in due form before a court" is a completed legal act that creates a record, triggers rights and obligations, and may have prescribed procedural requirements. The informality of the common phrase obscures the precision of the legal action.
Why It Matters in Research
Researchers working in pre-twentieth-century case law, pleading records, and equity proceedings will encounter "put in" frequently as a procedural marker. Its meaning shifts slightly by context — "put in a plea," "put in evidence," "put in bail," and "put in an answer" each describe a distinct procedural act — so reading the surrounding language is essential to understanding what formal step was taken.
In older common law pleading, the timing of when something was "put in" could be legally significant: a plea put in after the proper time was irregular; evidence put in without proper foundation was subject to being struck. Researchers should not assume the phrase is merely descriptive — in historical records, it often marks a pivotal procedural moment.
The phrase also appears in equity practice and admiralty, where "putting in" a claim or answer had specific formal requirements distinct from common law procedure. In admiralty records especially, "put in" at a port has a separate nautical/commercial meaning that can cause confusion when the same document addresses both procedural and maritime matters.
Modern legal drafting and practice has largely replaced "put in" with more explicit terms: "filed," "submitted," "entered," "tendered," or "introduced." When researching across time periods, be aware that a historical source saying something was "put in" corresponds to what a modern source would call "filed" or "introduced into evidence," depending on context.
Historical Dictionary Support
Both editions of Black's Law Dictionary provide identical, minimal definitions: "In practice. To place in due form before a court; to place among the records of a court." The consistency across editions reflects that the term's procedural meaning was settled and uncontroversial. Black's treats it as a practical term of art rather than a term requiring doctrinal elaboration, which accurately reflects how it functioned — less as a legal concept than as a procedural shorthand embedded in the language of courts and pleadings.
Neither edition provides examples, subtypes, or discussion of the term's application across different procedural contexts (pleading, evidence, bail, equity). Researchers relying solely on Black's will have the core meaning but will need to supply the contextual variation from primary sources and treatises.
Jurisdictional Note
The phrase appears across common law jurisdictions — English, American, and Commonwealth — in substantially the same sense. Because it is procedural shorthand rather than a term of substantive law, its meaning tracks the procedural traditions of the relevant court system. Researchers working in civil law or mixed jurisdictions will not find direct equivalents; the concept maps roughly onto "filing" or "formal submission" in those systems.