jus primae noctis

[juhs prahy-mee nok-tis]

noun

1. droit du seigneur.

Word History and Origins

Origin of jus primae noctis¹

First recorded in 1885–90

Example Sentences

Both opera and play distill class warfare down to the aristocratic household, where two just-married servants foil the lecherous count’s scheme to exercise jus primae noctis — right of the first night — on the wife.

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In the new law courts—for Fort Mayne was over—the lawyers were as busy as bees, issuing writs for attainder, chancery, chevisance, disseisin, distraint, distress, embracery, exigent, fieri facias, maintenance, replevin, right of way, oyer and terminer, scot and lot, Quorum bonorum, Sic et non, Pro et contra, Jus primae noctis, and Questio quid juris?

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For all he knew there might never have been any such law as the jus primae noctis, or any such creature as a capitalist, or any such garment as a top hat.

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There was also something called the jus primae noctis, which would probably not be mentioned in a textbook for children.

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Again, the variety of conditions in which we come across the merchet, leads us to suppose that this term was extended through the medium of legal theory to payments which differed from each other in their very essence: the commutation of the 'jus primae noctis,' the compensation paid to the lord for the loss of his bondwoman leaving the156 manor, and the fine for marriage to be levied by the township or the hundred, were all thrown together.

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