Definition
"Uncore prist" (Law French: "still ready") is a formal pleading term denoting a party's assertion that he remains ready and willing to perform or pay what is justly demanded of him under a contract. It appears as an element of the common law plea of tender, typically as the concluding assertion after a recitation that the party had always been prepared to perform. Standing alone, it declares present readiness; combined with the phrase "tout temps prist" ("always ready"), it forms the complete averment that the party has been, and continues to be, ready to perform his contractual obligation.
The plea was used both as a defense in actions for breach of contract and as part of a formal tender pleading, signaling to the court that the defendant had not repudiated his obligation but rather that the plaintiff had failed to accept what was duly offered.
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Common Language
This is pure legal jargon of Norman-French origin with no counterpart in ordinary English usage. The COMMON LANGUAGE section is omitted.
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Common Confusion
UNCORE PRIST vs. TOUT TEMPS PRIST: These two phrases work in tandem and are easily conflated. "Tout temps prist" asserts that the party has always been ready — covering past readiness from the inception of the obligation. "Uncore prist" asserts that the party is still ready at the time of pleading — covering present readiness at the moment the defense is entered. In formal tender pleadings, "tout temps prist" came first and "uncore prist" followed as its complement. Burrill treats "uncore prist" as the operative formal words of the tender plea itself, while Rapalje & Lawrence treat "tout temps prist" as the primary plea with "uncore prist" as the follow-on assertion. Researchers should look for both phrases when tracing a tender defense in historical pleading records.
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Why It Matters in Research
This term is a marker of the archaic common law system of formal pleading, largely displaced by code pleading reforms beginning in the mid-nineteenth century. Researchers encountering "uncore prist" in primary sources are almost certainly working with pre-code pleading materials — English common law decisions, early American cases from jurisdictions that followed English pleading practice, or treatises on the forms of action.
The practical significance lies in understanding what a tender plea was designed to accomplish: a defendant who had made a valid tender and pleaded "tout temps prist" and "uncore prist" could, if successful, limit the plaintiff to nominal damages or shift costs. The phrase therefore signals a substantive litigation strategy, not merely a formality.
Researchers tracing the law of tender should note that the formal pleading structure around these phrases dissolved with procedural reform, but the underlying doctrine — that a party who remains ready and willing to perform is not in breach — survives in modern contract law. The terminology did not survive with it. Modern cases discussing "tender" and "readiness to perform" will not use this language, creating a research gap when moving between historical and modern sources.
The cross-reference in Rapalje & Lawrence to Coke on Littleton (Co. Litt. 207a) and to Leake's Contracts is useful for locating the doctrine in its classical English formulation. Burrill's direction to "Tout temps prist" confirms that the two entries should be read together.
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Historical Dictionary Support
The four sources agree precisely on the core meaning: Law French for "still ready," used in the plea of tender. There is no substantive divergence on definition.
The sources differ slightly in emphasis and scope. Black's (both editions) presents the term as a "species of plea or replication" — a broader framing that encompasses its use by either party. Rapalje & Lawrence narrows the focus to the defendant setting up the defense when sued on a contract, and explicitly connects it to the sequence of pleading: "uncore prist" follows "tout temps prist" as the second step. Burrill is the most concise, treating "uncore prist" simply as formal words within the tender plea and directing the reader elsewhere.
None of the sources address what happens to the equivalent doctrine after code pleading reform — a gap that reflects the vintage of these dictionaries rather than any error. The modern researcher will find that the readiness-to-perform concept is well developed in contract law but that the formal pleading infrastructure described by these sources is historical.
Rapalje & Lawrence's citation to Co. Litt. 207a is the most useful anchor for primary source research. The reference to Leake's Contracts (2nd edition) provides a nineteenth-century treatise bridge between the formal pleading era and the emerging modern law of contract.
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Jurisdictional Note
This term belongs to the English common law pleading system and its direct American successors. It has no operative significance in jurisdictions that have adopted the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure or equivalent code pleading systems. Researchers working in Louisiana or other civil law jurisdictions will find no analog.
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