Online Encyclopedia

Search over 40,000 articles from the original, classic Encyclopedia Britannica, 11th Edition.

BENCH (an O.E. and Eng. form of a wor...

Online Encyclopedia
Originally appearing in Volume V03, Page 716 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.
Spread the word: del.icio.us del.icio.us it!

See also:

BENCH (an O.E. and Eng. See also:form of a word See also:common to See also:Teutonic See also:languages, cf. Ger. See also:Bank, See also:Dan. baenk and the Eng. doublet " bank ")  , a See also:long narrow wooden seat for several persons, with or without a back . While the See also:chair was yet a seat of See also:state or dignity the See also:bench was ordinarily used by the commonalty . It is still extensively employed for other than domestic purposes, as in See also:schools, churches and places of amusement . Bench or Banc, in See also:law, originally was the seat occupied by See also:judges in See also:court; hence the See also:term is used of a tribunal of See also:justice itself, as the See also:King's Bench, the See also:Common Bench, and is now applied to judges or magistrates collectively as the " judicial bench," " bench of magistrates." The word is also applied to any seat where a number of See also:people sit in an See also:official capacity, or as See also:equivalent to the dignity itself, as " the civic bench," the " bench of aldermen," the " episcopal bench," the " front bench," i.e. that reserved for the leaders of either party in the See also:British See also:House of See also:Commons . King's Bench 716 (q.v.) was one of the three See also:superior courts of common law at See also:Westminster, the others being the common pleas and the ex-chequer . Under the Judicature See also:Act 1873, the court of king's bench became the king's bench See also:division of the High Court of Justice . The court of common pleas was sometimes called the common bench . Sittings in banc were formerly the sittings of one of the superior courts of Westminster for the See also:hearing of motions, See also:special cases, &c., as opposed to the nisi See also:Arius sittings for trial of facts, where usually only a single See also:judge presided . By the Judicature Act 1873 the business of courts sitting in banc was transferred to divisional courts . BENCH-See also:MARK, a surveyor's mark cut in See also:stone or some durable material, to indicate a point in a See also:line of levels for the determination of altitudes over a given See also:district . The name is taken from the " See also:angle-See also:iron " which is inserted in the See also:horizontal incision as a " bench " or support for the levelling See also:staff . The mark of the " broad-arrow " is generally incised with the bench-mark so that the horizontal See also:bar passes through its See also:apex .

End of Article: BENCH (an O.E. and Eng. form of a word common to Teutonic languages, cf. Ger. Bank, Dan. baenk and the Eng. doublet " bank ")
[back]
JOHN BENBOW (1653-17o2)
[next]
BENCH TABLE (Fr. bane; Ital. sedile; Ger. Bank)

Additional information and Comments

There are no comments yet for this article.
» Add information or comments to this article.
Please link directly to this article:
Highlight the code below, right click and select "copy." Paste it into a website, email, or other HTML document.