Inns of Court at English => English (Longman) Of Explained:
the the four law societies and their buildings in London, for students and practising barristers, which an English barrister must belong to. The four societies are Lincoln's Inn, the Inner Temple, the Middle Temple, and Gray's Inn.//
Inns of Court at English => English (The Britannica Concise) Of Explained:
Four societies of British students and practitioners of law that have the exclusive right to admit people to practice. The four are Lincoln's Inn, Gray's Inn, Inner Temple, and Middle Temple. All are located in London and trace their origins to the Middle Ages. Until the 17th cent., when the Inn of Chancery developed (for training in the framing of writs and other legal documents used in the courts of chancery, or equity courts), the Inns of Court had a monopoly over legal education. By the 19th cent., modern law schools had emerged.
INNS OF COURT at English => English (Bouviers Law) Of Explained:
INNS OF COURT, Engl. law. The name given to the colleges of the English
professors and students of the common law. 2. The four principal Inns of
Court are the Inner Temple and Middle Temple, (formerly belonging to the
Knights Templars) Lincoln's Inn, and Gray's Inn, (ancient belonging to the
earls of Lincoln and ray.) The other inns are the two Sergeants' Inns. The
Inns of Chancery were probably so called because they were once inhabited by
such clerks, as chiefly studied the forming of writs, which regularly
belonged to the cursitors, who are officers of chancery. These are Thavie's
Inn, the New Inn, Symond's Inn, Clement's Inn, Clifford's Inn,' Staple's
Inn, Lion's Inn, Furnival's Inn and Barnard's Inn. Before being called to
the bar, it is necessary to be admitted to one of the Inns of Court.
Inns of court at English => English (Websters 1913) Of Explained:
Inn \Inn\, n. [AS. in, inn, house, chamber, inn, from AS. in in;
akin to Icel. inni house. See {In}.]
1. A place of shelter; hence, dwelling; habitation;
residence; abode. [Obs.] --Chaucer.
Therefore with me ye may take up your inn For this
same night. --Spenser.
2. A house for the lodging and entertainment of travelers or
wayfarers; a tavern; a public house; a hotel.
Note: As distinguished from a private boarding house, an inn
is a house for the entertainment of all travelers of
good conduct and means of payment,as guests for a brief
period,not as lodgers or boarders by contract.
The miserable fare and miserable lodgment of a
provincial inn. --W. Irving.
3. The town residence of a nobleman or distinguished person;
as, Leicester Inn. [Eng.]
4. One of the colleges (societies or buildings) in London,
for students of the law barristers; as, the Inns of Court;
the Inns of Chancery; Serjeants' Inns.
{Inns of chancery} (Eng.), colleges in which young students
formerly began their law studies, now occupied chiefly by
attorneys, solicitors, etc.
{Inns of court} (Eng.), the four societies of ``students and
practicers of the law of England'' which in London
exercise the exclusive right of admitting persons to
practice at the bar; also, the buildings in which the law
students and barristers have their chambers. They are the
Inner Temple, the Middle Temple, Lincoln's Inn, and Gray's
Inn.