‖ constat
(ˈkɒnstæt)
[L. constat it is certain, it is established, 3rd sing. pr. of constāre to stand firm: see constant.]
† 1. Law. A certificate stating what appears (constat) upon record touching a matter, given by the clerk of the pipe and auditors of the Exchequer at the request of a person who intends to plead or move in that court for the discharge of any matter. Also an exemplification of the enrolment of letters-patent under the Great Seal. Obs.
| 1570 Act 13 Eliz. c. 6 §2 An Exemplification or Constat under the Great Seal of England of the Enrollment of the same Letters Patents. 1640–4 in Rushw. Hist. Coll. (1692) iii. I. 23 As appears by a Constat-Warrant in the Exchequer. 1670 Blount Law Dict. s.v., The effect of a Constat is the certifying what does constare upon Record..Also, the Exemplification under the Great Seal of the Inrolment of any Letters Patent is called a Constat. |
† 2. fig. Certifying evidence, assurance. Obs.
| 1621 W. Sclater Tythes (1623) 148 There is a Constat from their testimonie, that they were [payde]. 1624 Bp. R. Montagu Gagg 58 A very strange practice, of which there is no constat: let but one Father say so and I yeeld the bucklers. a 1640 Jackson Creed x. xl. Wks. IX. 417 A constat to all the world that ‘the God of Abraham was no respecter of persons’. a 1661 Fuller Worthies ii. 154 There is no Constat (though very much Probability) of his English Nativity. |
3. clare constat. Sc. Law. [L. = ‘it is clearly established,’ i.e. to the satisfaction of the superior, that the late vassal died infeft in the lands, and that the person claiming entry is his nearest and lawful heir.] precept of ―: ‘a deed executed by a subject-superior for the purpose of completing the title of his vassal's heir to the lands held by the deceased vassal, under the granter of the precept’ (Bell).
| 1594 Sc. Acts Jas. VI, §214 Precepts of clare constat. 1847 Act 10 & 11 Vict. c. 48. 1861 W. Bell Dict. Law Scotl. 172 An entry by precept of clare constat can be given only where the last proprietor stood publicly infeft. |