Etymology

nisi prius

Today it means: In the 19th century, those legal actions tried before judges of the King's Bench Division, and in the early 20th century those actions tried at assize by a judge given a commission. Full definition →

Latin nisi prius
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The story

  1. Latin · borrowed fromnisi prius“unless previously”
  2. English todaynisi prius

From Latin nisi prius (“unless previously”), from the first two words of the old Latin writ summoning the juries to appear at Westminster unless, before the day appointed, the judges had come to the county.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.