SELLOR

2 definitions found across Law Mind sources

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SELLORAuthored
The Law Mind • 776 words
Definition
A sellor is a party who transfers or agrees to transfer property, goods, or rights to another party in exchange for a price or other consideration. The term is an archaic or variant spelling of "seller" — the person on the conveying side of a sale transaction. In the law of contracts and commercial law, the sellor holds the title or right to the subject matter of the sale prior to the transaction and conveys that title upon completion of the agreed terms. ---
Common Language
Modern common usage (Wiktionary): "Seller" (the standard modern spelling) is one who sells; a person or entity that offers goods or services in exchange for money. Historical common usage (Webster's 1913): One who sells; a vender. The form "sellor" does not appear as a standard entry; "seller" was already the dominant spelling by the nineteenth century. The gap here is primarily orthographic rather than conceptual. "Sellor" is an older or variant legal spelling that appears in historical documents and instruments. Researchers encountering "sellor" in historical deeds, contracts, or court records should recognize it as functionally identical to "seller" in legal meaning, but should not assume the variant spelling signals a distinct legal concept or role. ---
Common Confusion
SELLOR vs. SELLER: These are variant spellings of the same legal role, not distinct legal concepts. "Sellor" appears more frequently in older English legal instruments, particularly in conveyancing and ecclesiastical property records. Modern legal usage has standardized entirely on "seller." A researcher who indexes or searches only for "seller" may miss references to the same party in historical documents spelled "sellor." SELLOR vs. VENDOR: "Vendor" is the more formal Latin-derived term used in conveyancing, particularly for real property transactions. "Seller" and "sellor" are more commonly used in personal property and commercial contexts. The distinction matters in historical sources, where "vendor" may carry specific conveyancing implications that "sellor" does not. SELLOR vs. GRANTOR: In the context of deeds and real property transfers, the transferring party is typically called the grantor, not the seller or sellor. Using "sellor" in a deed context in historical sources may signal a less formal instrument or a transaction straddling sale and conveyance. ---
Why It Matters in Research
The variant spelling "sellor" is a navigational trap in corpus research. Full-text searches for "seller" will not return documents using "sellor," and vice versa. Researchers working with digitized historical legal documents — deeds, bills of sale, ecclesiastical property records, admiralty prize proceedings — should run parallel searches under both spellings. The Bouvier's entry associated with this term in the source material is anomalous: the text provided describes the College of Doctors of Law in English ecclesiastical and admiralty courts, which has no obvious connection to the term "sellor" as a transactional party. This suggests either a misalignment in the source corpus or that the Bouvier's entry was clipped mid-text and the relevant "sellor" definition was not captured. Researchers should treat the Bouvier's support for this term as incomplete and supplement with other historical sources. In ecclesiastical and admiralty court records specifically — the courts referenced in the Bouvier's fragment — property dispositions and prize sales would have identified the transferring party using period-appropriate terminology. "Sellor" in that context would appear in bills of sale for condemned vessels or goods, not in advocacy or professional capacity records. ---
Historical Dictionary Support
Bouvier's Law Dictionary includes a fragment associated with this term that describes the English College of Doctors of Law and its authority over ecclesiastical and admiralty practice, including a reference to the college's power to surrender its charter and sell its real property following the 1857 creation of the new courts of probate and matrimonial causes. The connection to "sellor" as a transactional concept is not developed in the surviving text. The entry as captured does not provide a direct definition of "sellor" as a party to a sale. Standard historical dictionaries treat "sellor" as a spelling variant only. The substantive law of the selling party — obligations, warranties, title, and risk of passage — is developed under "seller," "vendor," and cognate entries in Bouvier's and in later commercial law treatises. ---
Jurisdictional Note
The spelling "sellor" is an artifact of older English legal drafting and does not carry jurisdictional significance in American law. Modern American commercial law, governed primarily by Article 2 of the Uniform Commercial Code, uses "seller" exclusively. ---
Related Terms
Seller — Vendor — Grantor — Transferor — Assignor — Buyer — Purchaser — Vendee — Bill of Sale — Contract of Sale — Title — Consideration — Conveyance
SELLORmain
Bouvier's Law Dictionary • 1928
In the English ecclesiastical and admi- ralty courts, advocates had the exclusive right of acting as counsel. They were incorporated (8 Geo. III.) under the title of "The College of Doctors of Law Exercent in the Ecclesiastical and Admiralty Courts." In 1857, on the creation of the new court of probate and matrimonial causes, this col- lege was empowered to surrender its char- ter and sell its real estate. In Scotland all barristers are called advo- cates. Lord Advocate. An officer in Scotland appointed by the crown, during pleasure, to take care of the king's interest before the courts of session, justiciary, and exchequer. All actions that concern the king's interest, civil or criminal, must be carried on with concourse of the lord advocate. He also discharges the duties of public prosecutor, either in person or by one of his four de- puties, who are called advocates-depute. Indictments for crimes must be in his name as accuser. He supervises the proceedings in important criminal cases, and has the right to appear in all such cases. He is, in fact, secretary of state for Scotland, and his principal duties are connected directly with the administration of the government. Inferior courts have a procurator fiscal, who supplies before them the place of the lord advocate in criminal cases. See 2 Bankt. Inst. 402. College or Faculty of Advocates. A cor- porate body in Scotland, consisting of the members of the bar in Edinburgh. A large portion of its members are not active prac- titioners, however; 2 Bankt. Inst. 486. Queen's Advocate. A member of the Col- lege of Advocates, appointed by letters pat- ent to advise the crown on questions of civil, canon, and ecclesiastical law. Не takes precedence next after the solicitor general. Church or Ecclesiastical Advocates.- Pleaders appointed by the church to main- tain its rights. In Ecclesiastical Law. A patron of a living; one who has the advowson, advo- catio. Tech. Dict.; Ayliffe, Par. 53; Dane, Abr. c. 81, § 20; Erskine, Inst. 79, 9. Those persons whom we now call patrons of churches, and who reserved to themselves and their heirs a license to present on any avoidance. The term originally belonged to the founders of churches and convents and their heirs, who were bound to protect their

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