mainprise

Noun

(plural mainprises)

(law, historical) A writ directed to the sheriff, commanding him to take sureties, called mainpernors, for the prisoner's appearance, and to let him go at large.
(law, historical) Deliverance of a prisoner on security for his appearance at a day.

Verb

(third-person singular simple present mainprises, present participle mainprising, simple past and past participle mainprised)

(law) To allow (a prisoner) to go at large, on his finding sureties, or mainpernors, for his appearance on a given day.

Origin

From French main (“hand”) + prise (“a taking”), from prendre (“to take”), from Latin prehendo (“I take”)

English Wiktionary. Available under CC-BY-SA license.

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"mainprise." YourDictionary, n.d. Web. 16 January 2019. <https://www.yourdictionary.com/mainprise>.

APA Style

mainprise. (n.d.). Retrieved January 16th, 2019, from https://www.yourdictionary.com/mainprise

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