Definitions
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
- n. An agreement or promise made orally or in writing not under seal; a contract.
- n. A legal action to enforce or recover damages for a breach of such an agreement.
Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
- n. In law: An action lying for the recovery of damages sustained through the breach of a simple contract (that is, a promise not under seal), in which the plaintiff alleges that the defendant assumpsit, that is, promised or undertook, to perform the act specified. Hence— An actionable promise, express or implied by law. In England and in most of the United States this, like the other common-law forms of action, has been superseded by statute.
GNU Webster's 1913
- n. A promise or undertaking, founded on a consideration. This promise may be oral or in writing not under seal. It may be express or implied.
- n. An action to recover damages for a breach or nonperformance of a contract or promise, express or implied, oral or in writing not under seal. Common or
indebitatus assumpsit is brought for the most part on an implied promise. Specialassumpsit is founded on an express promise or undertaking.
Etymologies
- New Latin assūmpsit, from third person sing. perfect tense of Latin assūmere, to undertake; see assume.
Examples
“Yesterday's term was assumpsit, which is defined as:”
“But this does not belong to the class of cases to be considered, for the problem before us is to trace the origin of assumpsit, which is an action of contract.”
“Sir John laid great stress upon the erroneous manner in which the action had been laid, and contended that as the English form of 'assumpsit' had been taken, in order to get both debt and damages, instead of a single action of damages being brought, all the consequences of the form adopted must be taken by the plaintiff, who, not having proved _damages_, or even stated them, must be held by the court to have made out no case, and be cast accordingly.”
“Going further to integrate what one knows about each subject into a cohesive map of “the law” is something that may never happen, or it may happen during bar review you can “waive the tort and sue in assumpsit” — cool!”
The Volokh Conspiracy » Don’t Shoot Me, I’m Only the Piano Player.
“Stephen of Antioch's full translation appears in a 1523 edition, Haly filius abbas Liber totius medicine necessaria … regalis dispositionis nomen assumpsit (Lyon, Typis Jacobi Myt), Liber primus Practice, chap. 19 — 21, fols. 151ra — 153va.”
A Tender Age: Cultural Anxieties over the Child in the Twelfth and Thirteenth Centuries
“Hic ad iactum lapidis in meridie orauit [‘oraiit’ in source text — KTH] ad suum patrem, et pro vehementi orationis intentione sanguineum exudauit sudorem: atque ibi non remotè videtur tumba regis Iudeæ Iosaphat, á quo et vallis sibi nomen assumpsit: et credimus in hanc vallem Christum venturum ad nouissimum, et generalissimum iudicium, vbi (Iohele propheta testante) disceptabit de omni actione mortalium.”
“Inter primos Thom� Becketi successor hic secundus, audita saluatoris et salutifer� Crucis iniuria nostris (proh dolor) diebus per Saladinum irrogata, cruce signatus, in eiusdem obsequijs, tarn remotis finibus qu鄊 propinquis, pr鎑icationis officiunm viriliter assumpsit.”
The Principal Navigations, Voyages, Traffiques and Discoveries of the English Nation
“Hic ad iactum lapidis in meridie orauit [‘oraiit’ in source text — KTH] ad suum patrem, et pro vehementi orationis intentione sanguineum exudauit sudorem: atque ibi non remot� videtur tumba regis Iude� Iosaphat, � quo et vallis sibi nomen assumpsit: et credimus in hanc vallem Christum venturum ad nouissimum, et generalissimum iudicium, vbi (Iohele propheta testante) disceptabit de omni actione mortalium.”
The Principal Navigations, Voyages, Traffiques and Discoveries of the English Nation
“Qui vt audiui, 15. pueros pauperculos assumpsit et secum in Daniam auexit: Vbi postea ipsius beneficio singulos suo vit� generi addictos, in viros bonos et frugi euasisse, mihi narratum est.”
The Principal Navigations, Voyages, Traffiques and Discoveries of the English Nation
“Norwagiam, post Scoticam barbariem non sine mortis pauore transcursam, peruenit Northumbriam, & ad castellum se contulit de Tinnemutha velut assylum antiquitus notum sibi: vbi per aliquot dies recreatus iter assumpsit versus manerium suum de Plashy, magnum apportans gaudium toti regno, tam de eius euasione, qu鄊 de aduentu suo.”
The Principal Navigations, Voyages, Traffiques and Discoveries of the English Nation
Lists
These user-created lists contain the word ‘assumpsit’.
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Logolepsy
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Law School Terminology
Words that I'm learning in law school
pro tanto, obiter dictum, ratio decidendi, ex facie, ab initio, per saltum, assumpsit, escheat, mandamus, seisin, easement, estoppel and 40 more...
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