Definify.com
Webster 1913 Edition
Capias
‖
Ca′pi-as
,Noun.
[L. thou mayst take.]
(Low)
A writ or process commanding the officer to take the body of the person named in it, that is, to arrest him; – also called
writ of capias
. ☞ One principal kind of capias is a writ by which actions at law are frequently commenced; another is a writ of execution issued after judgment to satisfy damages recovered; a capias in criminal law is the process to take a person charged on an indictment, when he is not in custody.
Burrill. Wharton.
Webster 1828 Edition
Capias
CAPIAS
,Noun.
Definition 2024
capias
capias
English
Noun
capias (plural capiases)
- (law) An arrest warrant; a writ commanding officers to take a specified person or persons into custody. [from 15th c.]
- 1596, Edmund Spenser, The Faerie Queene, VI.7:
- All which when Cupid heard, he by and by / In great displeasure wild a Capias / Should issue forth t'attach that scornefull lasse.
- 1596, Edmund Spenser, The Faerie Queene, VI.7:
Usage notes
- The term is mostly used in the singular.
Translations
arrest warrant — see arrest warrant