hilary term
/ˈhɪləɹi tɝm/
Word Rarity
Rare
Frequency: Zipf frequency 3.52 in modern English
18
Scrabble Score
10
Letters
3
Syllables
9
Unique Chars
Meaning
noun
The second term of the legal year, running from January to March or April, during which the upper courts of England and Wales, and Ireland, sit to hear cases.
noun
The second academic term of the universities of Oxford and Dublin, and other educational institutions, running from January to March; equivalent to Lent term at the University of Cambridge. The term was modelled after the legal term, but does not begin and end on the same dates.
Example Sentences
- "In Hilary''' term, 1777, Howland and his co-truſtees, filed a bill againſt the preſent plaintiff Elizabeth, the teſtator's heir at law, and the perſons claiming under his will, for the directions and indemnity of the Court, in executing their truſt; […]"
- "[Order] XIX. That whenever the time allowed for any of the following purposes, that is to say, for amending any bill, for filing, delivering, and referring exceptions to any answer, or for obtaining a Master's report upon any exceptions, would expire in the interval between the last seal after Trinity term and the first seal before Michaelmas term, or between the last seal after Michaelmas term and the first seal before Hilary term, such time shall extend to and include the day of the general seal then next ensuing."
- "Hilary Term was reinstated in 1796, with the injunction that jurors were not required to attend unless specially ordered. It seems likely, therefore, that the term was intended to be used for appeal cases only, although since criminal trials with juries were held in most Hilary Terms after 1798 this intention was not always carried out."
- "There are four terms in the year, viz. […] 2. Hilary term, which begins on the 14th day of January, and ends the day before Palm Sunday."
Etymology
Hilary + term. The name Hilary is from the Latin Hilarius (“Latin name of Saint Hilary of Poitiers”), hilarius (“more cheerful, more joyful”), from hilarē (“cheerful, joyful”), from hilaris (“cheerful, light-hearted, lively”), from Ancient Greek ἱλαρός (hilarós, “cheerful, glad, happy, joyful, merry”), from ἵλαος (hílaos, “gracious, merciful, propitious; gentle, kind, mild”). The feast day of Saint Hilary of Poitiers (c. 310 – c. 367), 13 January, occurs during this term.
Origin
- Source language: Latin
Word Breakdown
- Root: Hilarius, ἱλαρός
Regional Pronunciation
- American English: /ˈhɪləɹi tɝm/
- British English: /ˈhɪləɹi tɜːm/