common-law
[kom-uh n-law]
- of, relating to, or established by common law: a common-law spouse.
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Origin of common-law
First recorded in 1905–10
common law
- the system of law originating in England, as distinct from the civil or Roman law and the canon or ecclesiastical law.
- the unwritten law, especially of England, based on custom or court decision, as distinct from statute law.
- the law administered through the system of courts established for the purpose, as distinct from equity or admiralty.
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Origin of common law
Middle English word dating back to 1300–50
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
Examples from the Web for common-law
Contemporary Examples
Less canonically, “natural marriage” is also at times used as a rough synonym for “common-law marriage.”
Single-parent, same-sex, and common-law families barely penetrated public consciousness, much less the Hebrew lexicon.
People-Powered Social Revolution in Israel Promotes Rights of Same-Sex FamiliesIrit Rosenblum
November 15, 2013
Common-law partnerships have their own independent authority and validity.
Israeli Attorney Suggests Common-Law Marriage As an Act of Civil DisobedienceIrit Rosenblum
November 8, 2013
Common-law partnership makes the couple, and not the government or religious institution, the authority in family life.
Israeli Attorney Suggests Common-Law Marriage As an Act of Civil DisobedienceIrit Rosenblum
November 8, 2013
Common-law partnership offers privacy and autonomy in a world of increasing intrusion and regulation.
Israeli Attorney Suggests Common-Law Marriage As an Act of Civil DisobedienceIrit Rosenblum
November 8, 2013
Historical Examples
Let me ask, Can the city by any means legalize a common-law misdemeanor?
Jersey Street and Jersey LaneH. C. Bunner
I am a common-law barrister, and am rising in my profession.
"That idea of a common-law marriage was clever," Groll said musing.
Max FargusOwen Johnson
Now, you understand, gentlemen, that there is no common-law jurisdiction of offences residing in the United States Courts.
I took up with him at once the matter of Zoe's common-law marriage.
Children of the Market PlaceEdgar Lee Masters
common law
- the body of law based on judicial decisions and custom, as distinct from statute law
- the law of a state that is of general application, as distinct from regional customs
- common-law (modifier) denoting a marriage deemed to exist after a couple have cohabited for several yearscommon-law marriage; common-law wife
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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 common-law
common law
n.
mid-14c., "the customary and unwritten laws of England as embodied in commentaries and old cases" (see common (adj.)), as opposed to statute law. Phrase common law marriage is attested from 1909.
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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
common law
Law developed in the course of time from the rulings of judges, as opposed to law embodied in statutes passed by legislatures (statutory law) or law embodied in a written constitution (constitutional law). (See stare decisis.)
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Note
The importance of common law is particularly stressed in the legal system of Britain, on which the legal system of the United States is based.
The New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition
Copyright © 2005 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.