de medietate linguae

adjective

de me·​di·​e·​ta·​te lin·​guae

dāˌmedēə̇ˈtätāˈliŋˌgwī

of a jury

: constituted half of aliens and half of citizens or subjects

—referring to an arrangement that before 1870 might be claimed in an English civil or criminal case by one alien born or by a foreign merchant

Word History

Etymology

Latin, (composed) of half of (one's own) tongue

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