Definition
A Latin term from old English law denoting a belt, girdle, or sword-belt. The word appears in medieval legal and ceremonial contexts, most notably in connection with the formal investiture ceremonies of the legal profession. In its narrower documentary sense, ringa refers to the physical belt or girdle that formed part of the regalia associated with certain ranks or degrees in the English legal order.
Common Confusion
Ringa as a sword-belt should not be confused with the rings (annuli) distributed at the call of a Serjeant at Law. Though historically connected — both the belt and the ring figured in investiture ceremonies of the legal profession — they are distinct objects with distinct symbolic functions. The belt signified girding and readiness for service; the gold rings given by a new Serjeant to the judiciary and court officials were tokens of admission and good fellowship, often bearing personal mottoes chosen by the recipient. Burrill's entry bridges both ceremonial elements, which can create confusion when reading across sources.
Why It Matters in Research
Ringa is a term a researcher will encounter almost exclusively in two contexts: medieval Latin legal manuscripts and treatises (particularly Bracton), and antiquarian commentary on the ceremonies of the Serjeants at Law. Its practical research significance is narrow but specific.
First, when reading Bracton or similarly early Latin legal texts, ringa appears as descriptive terminology for regalia and investiture — understanding it as a belt or girdle resolves what might otherwise appear to be an obscure technical term.
Second, and more practically for Law Mind corpus researchers, Burrill's entry on ringa is embedded within a larger discussion of Serjeant at Law ceremonies. Historical English reports contain detailed accounts of the giving of rings, the wearing of particular garments, and the formal steps of assumption of that degree. Burrill cross-references these reports extensively. A researcher tracing the ceremonies of the Serjeants — their coifs, their rings, their robes — will find ringa appearing as a thread connecting physical regalia to the legal dignity of the rank.
The term has no modern legal usage. It is dead vocabulary in active practice but alive in legal history and in any research touching the history of the English bar, the Inns of Court, or the now-extinct order of Serjeants at Law.
Historical Dictionary Support
Burrill's Law Dictionary is the primary source for ringa in the Anglo-American legal dictionary tradition. Burrill cites Bracton (fol. 5b) and Spelman as authorities, placing the term squarely in the medieval Latin legal lexicon. The entry is brief but characteristically Burrillian in its cross-referencing — it uses the definition of ringa as a launching point into commentary on the ring-giving ceremonies of the Serjeants, noting that rings were given bearing mottoes "according to the fancy of the giver" and that the full ceremonies were recorded with considerable detail in the old English reports.
No other major historical legal dictionary in the Anglo-American tradition — not Black's, not Bouvier's — appears to carry a standalone entry for ringa. This makes Burrill the authoritative (and essentially sole) dictionary source. Researchers should be aware that Burrill's account of the associated ring ceremonies is incomplete as printed; the entry appears to be truncated, cutting off mid-sentence ("The giving of rings was former—"), suggesting that the full commentary on the custom was lost in transcription or reproduction. Any research relying on Burrill for the ceremonial detail should seek the underlying old English reports he references rather than treating his dictionary entry as complete.
Jurisdictional Note
Exclusively English in origin and application. The term has no equivalent usage in American, Scottish, or other common law jurisdictions and does not appear in colonial or federal American legal materials.
Encyclopedia Cross-Reference
Law Mind Encyclopedia — Serjeant at Law