assize

[ uh-sahyz ]
See synonyms for: assizeassizes on Thesaurus.com

noun
  1. Usually assizes . a trial session, civil or criminal, held periodically in specific locations in England, usually by a judge of a superior court.

  2. an edict, ordinance, or enactment made at a session of a legislative assembly.

  1. an inquest before members of a jury or assessors; a judicial inquiry.

  2. an action, writ, or verdict of an assize.

  3. judgment: the last assize; the great assize.

  4. a statute for the regulation and control of weights and measures or prices of general commodities in the market.

Origin of assize

1
1250–1300; Middle English asise<Old French: a sitting, noun use of feminine of asis seated at (past participle of aseeir), equivalent to a-a-5 + -sis<Latin sēssum (sed- stem of sedēre to sit1 + -tus past participle suffix)

Words Nearby assize

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How to use assize in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for assize

assize

/ (əˈsaɪz) /


noun
  1. (in the US)

    • a sitting of a legislative assembly or administrative body

    • an enactment or order of such an assembly

  2. English history a trial or judicial inquest, the writ instituting such inquest, or the verdict

  1. Scots law

    • trial by jury

    • another name for jury 1

Origin of assize

1
C13: from Old French assise session, from asseoir to seat, from Latin assidēre to sit beside; see assess

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012