释义 |
▪ I. droit1|drɔɪt, or as F., drwa| Also 5–6 droyt, 6 droict. [a. F. droit, earlier dreit:—late pop. L. *drēctum, drictum:—L. dīrēctum straightened, straight, right, direct; as n. a straight or right line; in late L. right, legal right, law.] 1. a. A right; a legal claim to what is one's due; hence, that to which one has a legal claim; a due; pl. dues, duties, perquisites due by legal right. Droits of Admiralty: certain rights or perquisites, as the proceeds arising from the seizure of enemies' ships, wrecks, etc., formerly belonging to the Court of Admiralty, but now paid into the Exchequer.
1481Caxton Godeffroy ccvi. 301 He sayde that they were the droytes and rightes of his chirche of the sepulcre. 1484― Curiall 8 The vertues of nature and the ryghtes and droytes of lyf humayne. 1528Sir R. Weston in Dillon Calais & Pale (1892) 92 Other casualtyes and droyts Royall belonging to the Seignorye. 1638Earl of Strafford Lett. (1739) II. 206 As if the keeping of the Fort..had prejudiced him in the Droits of his Admiralty. 1816Keatinge Trav. (1817) II. 164 A difficulty experienced in collecting the droits or duties exacted. 1861May Const. Hist. (1863) I. iv. 198 George III derived a considerable amount from the droits of the crown and Admiralty..and other casual sources of revenue. 1889Century Dict. s.v., In American law droits of admiralty are not as such recognized. b. droit(s) du (or de) seigneur (‖ drwa dy sɛɲœr), an alleged custom of mediæval times by which the feudal lord might have sexual intercourse with the bride of a vassal on the wedding-night, before she cohabited with her husband. Also transf.
[1784‘F. G. Desfontaines’ (title) Le Droit du Seigneur. Comédie en trois actes,..mêlée d'ariettes.] 1825H. Wilson Mem. iii. 168 Lord Frederic Beauclerc..declares himself willing to..marry us, privately, by special licence, provided you agree to grant him les droits du seigneur. Worcester enquired what that meant. Simply, les droits du mari, for the first night. 1902Folk-Lore XIII. 334 The final incident of the Wooing of Emer, proving as it does the existence of the droit du Seigneur among the early Irish. 1931E. A. Robertson Four Frightened People v. 147 The privilege, if anyone's, will be mine as the instigator of the expedition... A sort of local droit de seigneur. 1936‘G. Orwell’ Keep Aspidistra Flying ii. 45 She exercised a sort of droit du seigneur over letters. 1961A. Wilson Old Men at Zoo viii. 343 And as to your wife,..exercise the droit de seigneur. You're her lord and master. †2. Law, right, justice; a law. Obs.
1480Caxton Ovid's Met. x. vii, My fader..knoweth the lawes & droytes. 1481― Myrr. i. ix. 35 The droytes and lawes by which the jugements be made. 1483― Cato C viij, It is founde in droyt canon. ― Gold. Leg. 175b/1 To lerne the Scyence of droyt and of the lawe. 1535–6Act 27 Hen. VIII, c. 26 Preamb., The Domynyon..of Wales..[whereof] the Kinges moost Roiall Magestie of mere droite and verye right is verie hedde King Lorde and Ruler. 3. Comb., as droit-house, a building at a seaport for the collection of the droits of Admiralty; droitsman, the collector of droits.
1836Ann. Reg. 31 Plaintiff was taken to the droit-house at the end of the pier. 1866Blackmore Cradock Nowell xxxiii, The Admiralty droitsmen made an accurate inventory of the bungs and blacking bottles. ▪ II. † droit2 Obs. [Origin unascertained.] A minute weight; the four hundred and eightieth part of a grain troy, one twenty-fourth of a ‘mite’. (Belonging to a series used in exact computations of weight of coins, before the introduction of decimals, the alternate subdivisions by 20 and 24 carrying out those of ounces and pennyweights. See Notes & Queries 8th S.X. 255, 278, 338.)
1601[‘Weight of Silver Coins 43 Eliz. 1601’ given in ‘dwt., gr., Mites, Droits, Perits, Blancs,’ cited in J. Millan Coins, Weights, & Meas. 1749.] 1604Procl. Jas. I in Ruding Coinage of Gt. Brit. 1840, I. 363. a 1606 Mint & Moneta (MS. in Royal Mint Lib.) iv. lf. 2, Note that..in 1 grain Subtill there are 20ty Mites Subtill, and so further to Droites, to be devided if need shalbe. 1649Act Long Parlt. c. 43 (Scobell ii. 65). Schedule or Table annexed—Pieces of Gold: xxs. 05 Penny weights. 20 Grains. 10 Mites...Pieces of Silver:..id 00 Penny weights. 07 Grains. 14 Mites. 20 Droits. 02 Perits. 12 Blanks. ― Memorandum: Twelve Ounces makes a pound weight Troy;..Twenty Mites makes a Grain; Twenty four Droits makes a Mite; Twenty Perits makes a Droit; Twenty four Blanks makes a Perit. Passed 17 July. 1656Blount Glossogr. s.v. Ounce. 1658 Phillips s.v. Perit. 1708–43 J. Chamberlayne St. Gt. Brit. 160. 1811 Kelly Univ. Cambist, The Droit of 20 Periots. 1858Simmonds Dict. Trade, Droit, a division of the troy grain used by moneyers. |