bailment

American  

[beyl-muhnt] / ˈbeɪl mənt /

noun

Law.

1. the delivery of personal property returnable to the bailor after being held for some purpose.

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bailment British  

/ ˈbeɪlmənt /

noun

1. contract law a contractual delivery of goods in trust to a person for a specific purpose

2. criminal law the act of granting bail

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Etymology

Origin of bailment

1545–55; earlier bailement < Anglo-French; Old French baillement. See bail ¹, -ment

Example Sentences

The word bailment is from bail, French, to deliver.

From The Government Class Book Designed for the Instruction of Youth in the Principles of Constitutional Government and the Rights and Duties of Citizens. by Young, Andrew W.

If the defendant was a servant not having control over the goods, he might not fall within the law of bailment, and factors are treated on the footing of servants in the early law.

From The Common Law by Holmes, Oliver Wendell

I now proceed to the discussion for the sake of which an account of the law of bailment was introduced, and to which an understanding of that part of the law is a necessary preliminary.

From The Common Law by Holmes, Oliver Wendell

Lastly, if the car is driven by the garageman's servant while the bailment continues, the bailee, and not the owner, is responsible for any injury done to a third person by the servant's negligence.

From Putnam's Handy Law Book for the Layman by Bolles, Albert Sidney

And so I let him have my fish; and that was a bailment, and it was not for my benefit, but his, and so he ought to have taken very especial care of it.

From Rollo's Museum by Abbott, Jacob