Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • adjective Taking effect at a specified date only if no cause is shown for modification during the interim.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • Unless.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • conjunction Unless; if not; -- used mostly in law.
  • conjunction (Law) unless before; -- a phrase applied to terms of court, held generally by a single judge, with a jury, for the trial of civil causes. The term originated in a legal fiction. An issue of fact being made up, it is, according to the English practice, appointed by the entry on the record, or written proceedings, to be tried by a jury from the county of which the proceedings are dated, at Westminster, unless before the day appointed (nisi prius) the judges shall have come to the county in question (which they always do) and there try the cause. See In banc, under Banc.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • adjective not final or absolute

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[Latin, unless; see ne in Indo-European roots.]

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Examples

  • _Peragere_ refers to the prosecution of a defendant carried to its end, but does not imply success for the prosecutor: see Pliny _Ep_ III ix 30 and Ulpian _Dig_ XLVIII v 2 1 'non alias ad mulierem possit peruenire, nisi reum peregerit [_sc_ adulterii]; peregisse autem non alias quis uidetur, _nisi et condemnauerit_'.

    The Last Poems of Ovid 43 BC-18? Ovid

  • "Court of original jurisdiction" is often substituted for the term nisi prius.

    Define That Term #22 2006

  • "Court of original jurisdiction" is often substituted for the term nisi prius.

    Sui Generis--a New York law blog: 2006

  • Pauline privilege always include the phrase nisi prima voluerit converti.

    The Catholic Encyclopedia, Volume 5: Diocese-Fathers of Mercy 1840-1916 1913

  • When the funeral oratory fades away, and the day comes for nil nisi verum in place of nil nisi bonum, I anticipate that history will see Edward Moore Kennedy as a man who squandered his golden opportunities, partly owing to egregious faults of character but more because he espoused no coherent ideas.

    History 2010

  • The Inn at the End of the World: De mortuis nil nisi boum

    De mortuis nil nisi boum John 2009

  • When the funeral oratory fades away, and the day comes for nil nisi verum in place of nil nisi bonum, I anticipate that history will see Edward Moore Kennedy as a man who squandered his golden opportunities, partly owing to egregious faults of character but more because he espoused no coherent ideas.

    An Old Oligarch Passes On 2009

  • Ut enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exercitation ullamco laboris nisi ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat.

    OpenOffice.org 3.1 Has Smoother Drawing And Usability Tweaks | Lifehacker Australia 2009

  • The preview tape for MasterChef: the Professionals BBC2 also got trashed in the riots – I can't think of any other explanation why one wasn't available – so I can't tell you who won, but it would be wrong not to acknowledge the passing of another series without a valedictory nil – well, not much – nisi bonum.

    TV review: The Slap; Up in Flames: Mr Reeves and the Riots; and MasterChef: the Professionals 2011

  • When the funeral oratory fades away, and the day comes for nil nisi verum in place of nil nisi bonum, I anticipate that history will see Edward Moore Kennedy as a man who squandered his golden opportunities, partly owing to egregious faults of character but more because he espoused no coherent ideas.

    Stromata Blog: 2009

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