jurisprudence
(dʒʊərɪsˈpruːdəns)
[ad. L. jūrisprūdēntia (also prūdēntia jūris): cf. It. giurisprudenza, F. jurisprudence ‘the skille or knowledge of laws’ (Cotgr. 1611): perh. the immed. source.]
1. a. Knowledge of or skill in law.
| 1628 Coke On Litt. Epil., For a farewell to our jurisprudent, I wish vnto him the gladsome light of jurisprudence. 1758 Blackstone Study of Law in Comm. (1809) I. 27 Aristotle himself has said..that jurisprudence, or the knowledge of those laws, is the principal, and most perfect branch of ethics. 1795 Wythe Decis. Virginia 15 Being supposed to be known by men of jurisprudence. |
b. The science which treats of human laws (written or unwritten) in general; the philosophy of law.
| 1756 J. Warton Ess. Pope I. vi. 300 The talents of Abelard were not confined to theology, jurisprudence, philosophy. 1781 Gibbon Decl. & F. xvii. II. 40 The youth..who had devoted themselves to the study of Roman jurisprudence. 1799 Mackintosh Stud. Law Nature & Nations Wks. 1846 I. 345 Writers on general jurisprudence have considered states as moral persons. 1832 Austin Jurispr. (1879) I. Prelim. Explan. 32, I shall distinguish general jurisprudence or the philosophy of positive law, from what may be styled particular jurisprudence, or the science of particular law. 1861 Q. Rev. CX. 115 The domain of Comparative Jurisprudence, of which English Law forms a small province. |
2. A system or body of law; a legal system.
| 1656 Blount Glossogr., Jurisprudence... the stile or form of the Law. 1781 Gibbon Decl. & F. xliv, Under his reign..the civil jurisprudence was digested in the immortal works of the Code, the Pandects, and the Institutes. 1818 Hallam Mid. Ages viii. ii. (1819) II. 467 The difference between our Saxon and Norman jurisprudence. 1839 Ld. Brougham Statesm. Geo. III, Ld. Mansfield (ed. 2) 58 Heads peculiar to Scottish jurisprudence, to which the English law affords no parallel. a 1859 Macaulay Hist. Eng. xxv. V. 235 The history of our medical jurisprudence. a 1862 Buckle Misc. Wks. (1872) I. 1 The noblest gift Rome has bequeathed to posterity, is her jurisprudence. |