Definition of Misdimeanor
Mis`de*mean"or (?), n.
1. Ill behavior; evil conduct; fault.
Shak.
2. (Law) A crime less than a
felony. Wharton.
&fist; As a rule, in the old English law, offenses capitally
punishable were felonies; all other indictable offenses were
misdemeanors. In common usage, the word crime is employed to
denote the offenses of a deeper and more atrocious dye, while small
faults and omissions of less consequence are comprised under the
gentler name of misdemeanors. Blackstone.
The distinction, however, between felonies and misdemeanors is
purely arbitrary, and is in most jurisdictions either abrogated or so
far reduced as to be without practical value. Cf. Felony.
Wharton.
Syn. -- Misdeed; misconduct; misbehavior; fault; trespass;
transgression.
- Webster's Unabridged Dictionary (1913)
MISDEMEANOR, n. An infraction of the law having less dignity than a
felony and constituting no claim to admittance into the best criminal
society.
By misdemeanors he essays to climb
Into the aristocracy of crime.
O, woe was him! -- with manner chill and grand
"Captains of industry" refused his hand,
"Kings of finance" denied him recognition
And "railway magnates" jeered his low condition.
He robbed a bank to make himself respected.
They still rebuffed him, for he was detected.
S.V. Hanipur
- 1811 Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue
- (law) A crime usually punishable upon conviction by a small fine or by a short term of imprisonment. Crimes which are punishable by large fines or by longer imprisonment are usually called felonies.
- The Nuttall Encyclopedia
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