Showing results for capias. Search instead for dpias.

capias

American

[key-pee-uhs, kap-ee-] / ˈkeɪ pi əs, ˈkæp i- /

noun

Law.

a writ commanding an officer to take a specified person into custody.

capias British

/ ˈkeɪpɪˌæs, ˈkæp- /

noun

law (formerly) a writ directing a sheriff or other officer to arrest a named person

"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

Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

capiases

plural

Etymology

Origin of capias

1400–50; late Middle English < Latin: literally, you are to take, subjunctive 2nd person singular of capere

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

See Examples For:

capias

But a capias pro fine is not necessarily an immediate writ for arrest.

From Encyclopedia.com ● Jun. 6, 2018

The most common use for a capias writ is as an arrest warrant for defendants in criminal cases who do not show up for their scheduled court date.

From Encyclopedia.com ● Jun. 6, 2018

In various capacities, capias warrants can also be used in family and civil courts to bring in people who were supposed to make a scheduled court date.

From Encyclopedia.com ● Jun. 6, 2018

If the defendant does not show up, then the bond is revoked and the courts will issue a capias warrant for the defendant’s arrest.

From Encyclopedia.com ● Jun. 6, 2018

"It is important that he should be arrested on this capias," said Bagsley.

From The Frontiersmen by Gustave Aimard

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023