Definify.com
Webster 1913 Edition
Accessary
Ac-ces′sa-ry
(#; 277)
, Adj.
Accompanying, as a subordinate; additional; accessory; esp., uniting in, or contributing to, a crime, but not as chief actor. See
Accessory
. To both their deaths thou shalt be
accessary
. Shakespeare
Amongst many secondary and
accessary
causes that support monarchy, these are not of least reckoning. Milton.
Ac-ces′sa-ry
(277)
, Noun.
pl.
Accessaries
. [Cf.
Accessory
and LL. accessarius
.] (Law)
One who, not being present, contributes as an assistant or instigator to the commission of an offense.
Accessary before the fact
(Law)
, one who commands or counsels an offense, not being present at its commission.
– Accessary after the fact
, one who, after an offense, assists or shelters the offender, not being present at the commission of the offense.
☞ 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.