What does detinue mean?
Detinue is a legal term from the English common law denoting both the wrongful withholding of someone else's personal property and, more specifically, the formal action by which its owner sought recovery. Where other torts concerned damage to goods, detinue focused on a particular chattel: the plaintiff had to prove that goods were delivered to the defendant, that a demand for their return was made, and that the defendant refused. The court could then order the goods restored or their value paid, along with damages for the period of detention. The action was one of the oldest forms of writ, flourishing in the medieval courts, but it gradually fell out of favour because it did not lie against third parties who acquired the goods. Most jurisdictions have now abolished it in favour of the broader modern tort of conversion; today the word survives chiefly in legal history, older judgments, and a handful of American jurisdictions where the remedy technically remains available.
nounA common-law action for the recovery of personal property wrongfully detained by another, in which the plaintiff may also claim damages. More broadly, the wrongful detention of another's chattels.
- A common-law action to recover specific personal property wrongfully detained, with damages for its detention.
- The wrongful detention or withholding of another person's chattel.
"The plaintiff brought an action in detinue to recover the manuscript that the dealer refused to return."
"She commenced proceedings in detinue against the auction house for refusing to release her grandfather's watch."
"In medieval pleading, the defendant in detinue might deny the bailment or allege the goods had been lost."
Rarely used in the plural; when it occurs, it typically refers to multiple separate actions or instances of detention in legal-historical contexts.
"The casebook surveyed numerous medieval detinues involving borrowed goods never returned."
Detinue is so ancient it appears on the Statute of Westminster in 1285 — yet English courts were still hearing detinue claims into the 20th century.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Etymology of detinue
Detinue derives from Old French 'detenu', the past participle of 'detenir' meaning 'to hold back or keep', itself from Latin 'detinēre', formed from 'de-' (away) plus 'tenēre' (to hold). It entered English legal vocabulary in the medieval period through the language of the Norman courts, alongside related terms such as replevin and trover. Its Latin root makes it cognate with everyday words like detain, retain, tenacious, and tenure.
How detinue is actually used
Detinue is a term of art confined almost entirely to legal writing and legal history. It has been abolished or superseded in most common-law jurisdictions — in England by the Torts (Interference with Goods) Act 1977, which replaced it with a statutory action in conversion — though it survives in some US states and in historical discussion of English law.
Easily confused with detinue
Conversion is a single wrongful act of dealing with goods as one's own, whereas detinue is based on a continuing refusal to return specific goods after a demand.