Legal Definitions - a.

Definition: A is a hypothetical person often used in legal documents. It can also mean "from," "by," "in," "on," "of," or "at" in Latin. In Law Latin, it means "with," and in Law French, it can mean "of," "at," "to," "for," "in," or "with." In securities, A can be used to indicate various things, such as cash paid during the year in addition to regular dividends, a yield that may include capital gains and losses as well as current interest, or the American Stock Exchange as the primary market of a firm's common stock. In marine insurance, A can be a rating assigned to ships considered to be in first-class condition. In history, A was a scarlet letter worn as punishment by a person convicted of adultery. In Roman law, A could be an abbreviation for "absolvo" written on wooden tablets by criminal-court judges to indicate a vote for acquittal, or an abbreviation for "antiquo" written on wooden tablets by the participants in a popular assembly to indicate a vote against a proposed bill.

Examples:

• A deeds Blackacre to B. (This example shows how A can be used as a hypothetical person in a legal document.)
• Aaa (This is an example of how A can be used as a rating for a debt obligation, with AAA being the highest grade given by Standard & Poor's.)
• A (This is an example of how A can be used in a newspaper stock-transaction table to indicate that cash was paid during the year in addition to regular dividends.)
• A (This is an example of how A can be used in a newspaper mutual-fund transaction table to indicate a yield that may include capital gains and losses as well as current interest.)
• A (This is an example of how A can be used in a newspaper corporate earnings report to identify the American Stock Exchange as the primary market of a firm's common stock.)
• A (This is an example of how A can be used in marine insurance to indicate a rating assigned to ships considered to be in first-class condition.)
• A (This is an example of how A was used historically as a scarlet letter worn as punishment by a person convicted of adultery.)
• A (This is an example of how A was used in Roman law as an abbreviation for "absolvo" written on wooden tablets by criminal-court judges to indicate a vote for acquittal.)
• A (This is an example of how A was used in Roman law as an abbreviation for "antiquo" written on wooden tablets by the participants in a popular assembly to indicate a vote against a proposed bill.)

These examples illustrate the various meanings and uses of A in different contexts, such as legal documents, securities, marine insurance, and historical and Roman law contexts. A can be used to indicate a hypothetical person, a rating, a transaction, a condition, a punishment, or an abbreviation for a word or phrase.