What does elegit mean?
An elegit was a writ of execution in English law, used by a creditor who had obtained a court judgment for a debt. The name comes from the opening word of the writ's traditional Latin formula, meaning 'he has chosen.' Under an elegit, the creditor could elect to take the debtor's goods and chattels, or to hold a moiety — one half — of the debtor's freehold lands until the debt was paid out of their rents and profits. This made it a distinctive remedy among the older forms of execution, since it reached not merely personal property but real estate. Together with other ancient writs such as the fi. fa., the elegit formed part of the historic machinery for enforcing judgments, and it was eventually swept away by nineteenth-century reforms that consolidated the law of execution into modern statutory procedures. Today the word survives chiefly in legal history scholarship.
nounIn English law (historical): a writ of execution by which a creditor, after obtaining judgment for a debt, could take possession of the debtor's goods and a moiety (half) of his freehold land until the debt was paid.
- (Historical English law) A writ of execution allowing a judgment creditor to seize the debtor's goods and half his freehold land until satisfaction of the debt.
"The judgment creditor sued out an elegit against the debtor's lands."
"Under an elegit, the creditor held a moiety of the debtor's freehold until the judgment debt was satisfied."
"Students of legal history still encounter the elegit when tracing the old writs of execution abolished in the nineteenth century."
The plural is rare, appearing mostly in discussions listing multiple writs of this type.
"The records show several elegits issued against the same tenant's lands."
This Latin word meaning 'he has chosen' named a writ that let creditors claim half a debtor's land — and it survives today mainly as a footnote in legal history exams.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Etymology of elegit
The word 'elegit' is taken directly from Latin elegit, 'he has chosen,' the third-person perfect of eligere ('to pick out, choose'), which begins the writ's traditional Latin text. Eligere derives from e- ('out') plus legere ('to gather, select'), the root that also gives us 'elect,' 'elite,' 'select,' and 'eligible.' The term entered English as part of medieval common-law procedure imported after the Norman Conquest, and remained part of the vocabulary of execution writs until statutory reform abolished it.
How elegit is actually used
A technical term of historical English law, now obsolete and encountered almost exclusively in legal history texts; it was abolished along with other ancient writs of execution.
Easily confused with elegit
'Eligible' is an adjective meaning qualified to be chosen, while 'elegit' is a legal noun naming a specific writ of execution.
'Illicit' means forbidden by law; 'elegit' is itself a lawful legal writ, despite the similar spelling.