Legal Definitions - cepit et abduxit

Definition: Cepit et abduxit (see-pit et ab-duk-sit) is a Latin phrase that means "he took and led away." This declaration was commonly used in either a writ of trespass or a larceny indictment for theft of an animal.

Example 1: John was accused of stealing a horse from his neighbor's farm. The indictment read, "John cepit et abduxit the horse from the plaintiff's property."

Example 2: In a writ of trespass, the plaintiff claimed that the defendant "unlawfully entered the plaintiff's land, cepit et abduxit the plaintiff's livestock."

These examples illustrate how the phrase cepit et abduxit was used in legal documents to describe the act of taking and leading away someone else's property without permission. It was often used in cases involving theft of animals, which were valuable assets in agricultural societies.