VERAY - The Law Mind Legal Dictionary

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Definition

Veray is a Law French term meaning "true." It appears in historical English land law as a modifier distinguishing types of tenure, particularly in the phrase "veray tenant" (true tenant) and "veray tenant by the manner." A veray tenant is one who holds an estate in fee simple — the fullest form of freehold ownership. A veray tenant by the manner is a variant of tenant by the manner, distinguished by the fact that the fee simple, rather than remaining in the lord, has been granted by the lord or by operation of law to another party.

The term is archaic and appears almost exclusively in historical treatises on real property tenure. It is not used in modern practice.

Common Language

Modern common usage (Wiktionary): No current English entry. "Veray" does not appear in modern standard dictionaries as a living word.

Historical common usage (Webster's 1913): Not listed. The word had already fallen out of ordinary English usage by the time Webster's was compiled.

Editorial note: "Veray" is an older Anglo-Norman spelling of the French "vrai" (true). English readers may encounter the word in medieval or early modern legal manuscripts and mistake it for a term of art with technical legal content beyond its simple meaning. Its only legal significance lies in the land law distinctions it marks, not in any independent doctrinal weight the word itself carries.

Common Confusion

Veray is occasionally confused with vrai or verai, variant spellings of the same Law French root. All carry the same meaning. Researchers should not treat variant spellings as distinct legal concepts. The Second Edition of Black's renders the headword with a typographic irregularity ("reray") that appears to be a printing error for "veray"; this has caused some confusion in transcribed and digitized versions of the text.

Why It Matters in Research

Researchers working in early English real property law — particularly in sources dealing with the common law of tenure before and shortly after the Statute of Uses (1535) — will encounter "veray" as a qualifier in tenure classifications. Its significance is contextual: alone, it signals fee simple ownership; combined with "by the manner," it marks a specific subtype of that tenure arrangement distinguishable only by where the fee simple came to rest.

The primary trap is orthographic. Law French spelling was unstable across manuscripts and printed editions, and "veray," "verai," "vrai," and "vray" all appear in the corpus. A keyword search on any single spelling will miss occurrences under the others. Researchers using digitized historical sources should plan for variant-form searching.

The term does not survive into American law. No American jurisdiction adopted the tenure distinctions it marks in any operative sense, and American treatises that mention it do so only in historical or comparative discussions of English land law. If the term appears in an American source after the early nineteenth century, it almost certainly signals a passage drawn directly from an English authority.

Hammond's Nisi Prius (cited in both editions of Black's as "Ham. N. P. 393–394") is the primary source cited for the substantive tenure distinction. Researchers verifying the underlying doctrine should consult that treatise directly rather than relying on the dictionary paraphrases.

Historical Dictionary Support

Black's Law Dictionary (both editions) and Bouvier's Law Dictionary are in close agreement on the definition, offering nearly identical substantive content. All three sources identify "veray" as Law French for "true," note the fee-simple connection of the veray tenant, and describe the veray tenant by the manner in the same terms. The consistency across sources reflects that all three are drawing from the same narrow base of authority — principally Hammond — rather than from independent doctrinal development.

None of the historical dictionaries provides significant elaboration on the broader tenure system within which these distinctions operated. Researchers need to look beyond these entries to understand why the distinction between fee simple remaining in a lord versus passing to another mattered in practice. The dictionary entries treat the term as a taxonomic label without explaining the legal consequences that flowed from the classification.

Bouvier's notes the "ancient manner of spelling vrai, true," which is the most explicit acknowledgment among the three sources that this is orthographic variation, not a separate word.

Jurisdictional Note

Veray and the tenure distinctions it marks are features of historical English common law. They were never operatively adopted in American jurisdictions. The term appears in American legal dictionaries and treatises only as an artifact of the English inheritance.

VERAYmain

Black's Law Dictionary • 1891

L. Fr. True. An old form of orai. Thus, veray, or true, tenant, is one who holds in fee-simple; veray tenant by the man- is the same as tenant by the manner, (q. v.,) with this difference only: that the fee-sim- ple, instead of remaining in the lord, is given by him or by the law to another. Ham. N. P. ner, U 398, 394. Verba accipienda sunt cum effectu, ut sortiantur effectum. Words are to be received with effect, so that they may produce V effect. Bac. Max. Verba accipienda sunt secundum subjectam materiam 6 Coke, 62. Words are to be understood with reference to the subject-matter. Verba æquivoca, ac in dubio sensu posita, intelliguntur digniori et poten- tiori sensu. Equivocal words, and such as are put in a doubtful sense, are [to be] un- derstood in the more worthy and effectual sense. 6 Coke, 20a. Verba aliquid operari debent; debent intelligi ut aliquid operentur. 8 Coke, 94. Words ought to have some operation; they ought to be interpreted in such a way as to have some operation. Verba artis ex arte. Terms of art should be explained from the art. 2 Kent, Comm. 556, note. VERBA INTELLIGENDA, ETC. VERBA CANCELLARIÆ. Words of the chancery. The technical style of writs framed in the office of chancery. Fleta, lib. 4, c. 10, § 3. Verba chartarum fortius accipiuntur contra proferentem. The words of charters are to be received more strongly against the grantor. Co. Litt. 36; Broom, Max. 594. Verba cum effectu accipienda sunt. Bac. Max. 3. Words ought to be used so as to give them their effect. Verba currentis monetæ, tempus 80- lutionis designant. Dav. 20. The words "current money" designate current at the time of payment. Verba debent intelligi cum effectu, ut Words res magis valeat quam pereat. ought to be understood with effect, that a thing may rather be preserved than destroyed. 2 Smith, Lead. Cas. 530. Verba debent intelligi ut aliquid ope- rentur. Words ought to be understood so as to have some operation. 8 Coke, 94a. Verba dicta de persona intelligi de- bent de conditione personæ. Words spoken of a person are to be understood of the condition of the person. 2 Rolle, 72. Verba fortius accipiuntur contra pro- ferentem. Words are to be taken most strongly against him who uses them. Bar. Max. 11, reg. 3. Verba generalia generaliter sunt in- telligenda. 3 Inst. 76. General words are to be generally understood. Verba generalia restringuntur ad ha- bilitatem rei vel aptitudinem persona. General words must be narrowed either to the nature of the subject-matter or to the aptitude of the person. Broom, Max. 646. Verba illata (relata) inesse videntur. Words referred to are to be considered as if incorporated. Broom, Max. 674, 677; 11 Mees. & W. 183. Verba in differenti materia per prius, non per posterius, intelligenda sunt. Words on a different subject are to be under- stood by what precedes, not by what comes after. A maxim of the civil law. Calvin. Verba intelligenda sunt in casu pos- sibili. Words are to be understood in [of] a possible case. A maxim of the civil aw. Calvin. VERBA INTENTIONI, ETC. Verba intentioni, non e contra, de- bent inservire. 8 Coke, 94. Words ought to be made subservient to the intent, not the intent to the words. Verba ita sunt intelligenda, ut res magis valeat quam pereat. The words [of an instrument] are to be so understood, that the subject-matter may rather be of force than perish, [rather be preserved than de- stroyed; or, in other words, that the instru- ment may have effect, if possible.] Bac. Max. 17, in reg. 3; Plowd. 156; 2 Bl. Comm. 380; 2 Kent, Comm. 555. Verba mere æquivoca, si per com- munem usum loquendi in intellectu certo sumuntur, talis intellectus præfe- rendus est. [In the case of] words merely equivocal, if they are taken by the common usage of speech in a certain sense, such sense is to be preferred. A maxim of the civil law. Calvin. Verba nihil operari melius est quam absurde. It is better that words should have no operation at all than [that they should operate] absurdly. A maxim of the civil law. Calvin. Verba non tam intuenda, quam causa et natura rei, ut mens contrahentium ex eis potius quam ex verbis appareat. The words [of a contract] are not so much to be looked at as the cause and nature of the thing, [which is the subject of it,] in order that the intention of the contracting parties may appear rather from them than from the words. Calvin. Verba offendi possunt, imo ab eis re- cedere licet, ut verba ad sanum intellec- tum reducantur. Words may be opposed, [taken in a contrary sense,] nay, we may dis- regard then altogether, in order that the [general] words [of an instrument] may be restored to a sound meaning. A maxim of the civilians. Calvin. Verba ordinationis quando verificari possunt in sua vera significatione, trahi ad extraneum intellectum non debent. When the words of an ordinance can be car- ried into effect in their own true meaning, they ought not to be drawn to a foreign in- tendment. A maxim of the civilians. Cal- vin. Verba posteriora pr

VERAYmain

Bouvier's Law Dictionary • 1928

An ancient manner of spell- ing vrai, true. In the English law there are three kinds of tenants: veray, or true tenant, who is one who holds in fee-simple ; tenant by the manner (see TENANT); and veray tenant by the manner, who is the same as tenant by the manner, with this difference only, that the fee-simple, in- stead of remaining in the lord, is given by him or by the law to another. Hamm. Ν. P. 394.

Veraymain

Black's Law Dictionary (2nd Ed.) - Supplemental • 1910

AY. L. Fr. True. An old form of vrai. Thus, reray, or true, tenant, is one •who bolds in fee-simple; veray tenant by the manner, is the same as tenant by the man-ner, (q. v.,) with this difference ouly: that the fee-simple, instead of reniainlng in the lord, is given by hlm or by the law to an-other. Ham. N. P. 393, 394

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