nisi prius
Americannoun
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Also called nisi prius court. a trial court for the hearing of civil cases before a judge and jury.
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British Law.
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a writ commanding a sheriff of a county to summon a jury and bring it to the court in Westminster on a certain day, unless the judges of assizes previously came to that county.
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the clause with the words “nisi prius” introducing this writ.
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the system of judicial circuits to which judges are assigned for local trials of civil and criminal cases.
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noun
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English legal history
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a direction that a case be brought up to Westminster for trial before a single judge and a jury
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the writ giving this direction
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trial before the justices taking the assizes
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(in the US) a court where civil actions are tried by a single judge sitting with a jury, as distinguished from an appellate court
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Etymology
Origin of nisi prius
1300–50; Middle English < Latin: literally, unless previously, unless before
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.
Two years subsequently it was necessary to make a new act to allow all technical terms to continue Latin, which were too ridiculous to be translated, such as nisi prius, fieri facias, habeas corpus.
From Amenities of Literature Consisting of Sketches and Characters of English Literature by Disraeli, Isaac
Ruminating over this, he hastened on to a nisi prius case.
From Sir Brook Fossbrooke, Volume I. by Lever, Charles James
In England, the judges at nisi prius express their opinions freely on the value and weight of the evidence, and the judges in banc, by consent of parties, constantly draw inferences of fact.
From The Common Law by Holmes, Oliver Wendell
On the other hand, at nisi prius and on the criminal circuit, he was accused of frequently attempting unduly to influence juries in their estimate of the credibility of evidence.
From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 5, Slice 2 "Camorra" to "Cape Colony" by Various
He was great at nisi prius and before an appellate tribunal.
From Abraham Lincoln, Volume 2 (of 2) The True Story of a Great Life by Herndon, William H.
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
