assize

[ uh-sahyz ]

noun

1. Usually assizes. a trial session, civil or criminal, held periodically in specific locations in England, usually by a judge of a superior court.
2. an edict, ordinance, or enactment made at a session of a legislative assembly.
3. an inquest before members of a jury or assessors; a judicial inquiry.
4. an action, writ, or verdict of an assize.
5. judgment:

   the last assize; the great assize.

6. a statute for the regulation and control of weights and measures or prices of general commodities in the market.

assize

/ əˈsaɪz /

noun

1. in the US
   1. a sitting of a legislative assembly or administrative body
   2. an enactment or order of such an assembly
2. English history a trial or judicial inquest, the writ instituting such inquest, or the verdict
3. Scots law
   1. trial by jury
   2. another name for jury 1

Word History and Origins

Origin of assize¹

1250–1300; Middle English asise < Old French: a sitting, noun use of feminine of asis seated at (past participle of aseeir ), equivalent to a- a- ⁵ + -sis < Latin sēssum ( sed- stem of sedēre to sit ¹ + -tus past participle suffix)

Word History and Origins

Origin of assize¹

C13: from Old French assise session, from asseoir to seat, from Latin assidēre to sit beside; see assess

Example Sentences

Belgium’s chamber of indictment “presumes that there are sufficient indications in this particular case” and the doctors involved have been referred to the court of assize in Ghent.

From The Guardian

Most houses possessed the right to hold the assize of bread and ale and to fine alewives who overcharged or gave short measure.

From Project Gutenberg

The assize business is over, and there won't be much press for the next month or two.

From Project Gutenberg

It is said that these three friends, dining together during a Liverpool assize some years after they had been called, agreed that their prospects were anything but cheerful.

From Project Gutenberg

The trial came on at an early period of the assize, and the prisoner was found guilty, and condemned to be hanged.

From Project Gutenberg