quo minus

Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia

1. n. An old English writ, used in a suit complaining of a grievance which consisted in diminishing plaintiff's resources, as for instance, waste committed by defendant on land from which plaintiff had a right to take wood or hay. The Court of Exchequer, whose original jurisdiction related to the Treasury, acquired its jurisdiction between private suitors by allowing a plaintiff by the use of this writ to allege that, by reason of the defendant's not paying the debt sued for, the plaintiff was less able (quo minus) to discharge his obligations to the crown.