assize

[uh-sahyz]

See more synonyms for assize on Thesaurus.com

noun

Usually assizes. a trial session, civil or criminal, held periodically in specific locations in England, usually by a judge of a superior court.
an edict, ordinance, or enactment made at a session of a legislative assembly.
an inquest before members of a jury or assessors; a judicial inquiry.

an action, writ, or verdict of an assize.
judgment: the last assize; the great assize.
a statute for the regulation and control of weights and measures or prices of general commodities in the market.

Origin of assize

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)

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Related Words for assize

tribunal, decree, court, ordinance, enactment, inquest, rule, hearing, trial, session, measure, assembly

Examples from the Web for assize

Historical Examples of assize

The old saying, 'Truth will out,' does not apply in an assize court.
The New Tenant
E. Phillips Oppenheim
The trial came on at the Court of Assize about six weeks ago.
Fantmas
Pierre Souvestre
The judges on assize were ordered to press the king's demand.
History of the English People, Volume V (of 8)
John Richard Green
The assize at Dorchester was opened on the 3rd of September.
Roger Willoughby
William H. G. Kingston
Nearly every assize is marked by a charge of this character.
Cotton is King and The Pro-Slavery Arguments
Various

British Dictionary definitions for assize

assize

noun

(in the US)
1. a sitting of a legislative assembly or administrative body
2. an enactment or order of such an assembly
English history a trial or judicial inquest, the writ instituting such inquest, or the verdict
Scots law
1. trial by jury
2. another name for jury 1

Word Origin for assize

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

Word Origin and History for assize

"session of a law court," c.1300 (attested from mid-12c. in Anglo-Latin), from Old French assise "session, sitting of a court" (12c.), properly fem. past participle of asseoir "to cause to sit," from Latin assidere (see assess). Originally "all legal proceedings of the nature of inquests or recognitions;" hence sessions held periodically in each county of England to administer civil and criminal justice.