accessary

Definition from Wiktionary, a free dictionary

Contents 1 English 1.1 Alternative spellings 1.2 Etymology 1.3 Noun 1.3.1 Derived terms 1.4 Adjective 1.5 Usage notes 1.6 References

[edit] English

[edit] Alternative spellings

• accessory

[edit] Etymology

From access + -ary.

[edit] Noun

accessary (plural accessaries)

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

[edit] Derived terms

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

[edit] Adjective

accessary (comparative more accessary, superlative most accessary)

1. (law) Accompanying as a subordinate; additional; accessory; especially, uniting in, or contributing to, a crime, but not as chief actor. See accessory.

   Quotations

   • To both their deaths thou shalt be accessary. - Shakespeare, Richard III, I-iii
   • Amongst many secondary and accessary causes that support monarchy, these are not of least reckoning. - John Milton

[edit] 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.

[edit] References

• accessary in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913