Legal Definitions - addictio

Term: Addictio
Definition: Addictio is a term from Roman law that means giving a person or thing to someone else as a form of payment or transfer of ownership. For example, if someone owes money to another person, the court may order the addictio of their property to the creditor. This was a legal way of settling debts in ancient Rome.
Examples: In ancient Rome, if a person owed money to someone else, the court could order the addictio of their property to the creditor. For instance, if a farmer owed money to a merchant, the court could order the addictio of the farmer's land to the merchant as payment for the debt. Another example is if a person died without any heirs, the court could order the addictio of their property to the state. This meant that the state would take ownership of the person's property. These examples illustrate how addictio was used in Roman law as a way of transferring ownership or settling debts.