What does appellor mean?
An appellor is a person who makes an appeal, most commonly understood as someone who brings a case before a higher court or legal authority in pursuit of a decision being reviewed or reversed. The word carries a distinctly formal, legal register and appears mainly in law-related writing rather than everyday conversation. In its older sense, rooted in medieval English law, an appellor was the party who formally accused another person of a crime and appealed them to answer that charge, sometimes even to trial by combat. Today the term survives largely as a historical or specialist variant, having been almost entirely supplanted by appellant, which denotes the party initiating an appeal in modern judicial systems. Its counterpart is the appellee, the party against whom the appeal is directed. For readers of legal history or students of courtroom terminology, appellor offers a window into how English legal language evolved from its Anglo-Norman and Latin roots, where appellare meant to call upon or address.
nounA person who brings an appeal before a higher legal authority or court; historically in English law, the party who formally accused another of a crime and appealed them to trial.
- One who appeals to a higher court or authority.
- In historical English law, the person who formally accused another of a crime and appealed them to face trial.
"The appellor presented evidence to support the case before the appellate court."
"As the appellor, she filed her petition with the appellate tribunal."
"Under medieval procedure, the appellor named the accused and pledged to prove the charge."
The plural follows the standard -s pattern and is rarely encountered outside legal-historical contexts.
"Several appellors challenged the verdict before the crown court."
Before 'appellant' took over the courtroom, English law used 'appellor' for the accuser who literally appealed a criminal to trial by combat.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Etymology of appellor
Appellor derives from the Latin verb appellare, meaning 'to call upon, address, or appeal to,' which entered English legal usage through Anglo-Norman French. It shares this root with the more common words appeal, appellant, and appellate. The term was used in medieval English law for the accuser in a formal appeal of felony, and gradually fell out of use as appellant became the standard term.
How appellor is actually used
Appellor is rare and chiefly historical or specialist legal vocabulary; in contemporary usage, appellant has largely displaced it.
Easily confused with appellor
An appellant is the modern standard term for a party appealing a court decision, while appellor is an older, rarer legal term for one who appeals or formally accuses.
The appellee is the party against whom an appeal is brought, whereas the appellor is the party initiating it.