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Accessary - What does it mean?

accessary | |

accessary

English

Alternative forms

* accessory

Noun

(accessaries)
  • (legal) Someone who accedes to some act, now especially a crime; one who contributes as an assistant or instigator to the commission of an offense.

    • Derived terms

    * accessary before the fact (legal) one who commands or counsels an offense, not being present at its commission. * accessary after the fact (legal) one who, after an offense, assists or shelters the offender, not being present at the commission of the offense.

    Adjective

    (en adjective)
  • (legal) Accompanying as a subordinate; additional; accessory; especially, uniting in, or contributing to, a crime, but not as chief actor. See accessory.
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    • Usage notes

    * "This word, as used in law, is spelt accessory'' by Blackstone and many others; but in this sense is spelt ''accessary'' by Bouvier, Burrill, Burns, Whishaw, Dane, and the Penny Cyclopedia; while in other senses it is spelt ''accessory''. In recent text-books on criminal law the distinction is not preserved, the spelling being either ''accessary'' or ''accessory''." - ''Webster, 1913 Since that time this trend has accelerated.

    References

    *

    Not English

    has no English definition. It may be misspelled.