RAPE. In criminal law. The unlawful carnal knowledge of a woman by a man forcibly and against her will. Code Ga. § , Gore v. State, 119 Ga. 418, 46 S. E. 6.1. 100 Am. St. Rep. 182; lliaxey v. State, 66 Ark. 523, 52 S. W. 2; Croghan v. State, 22 Wis. 444; State v. Montgomery. 63 Mo. 1539: People v. Crego, 70 Mich. 319. 38 N. W. 231; Felton v. State, 139 Ind 531, 39 N. B. 231.
In English law. An intermediate divi- sion between a shire and a hundred: or a division of a county. containing several hundreds. 1 BL Comm. 116; Cowell. Apparently peculiar to the county of Sussex.
—Rape of the forest. In old English isw. Trespass committed in a forest by violence. Cowell.—-Rape-reeve. In English law. The chief officer of a rape, (q. 1:.) 1 Bl. Comm. 116.
RAPINE. In criminal law. Plunder; pillage; robbery. In the civil law, mpiua is defined as the forcible and vioient taking of another man‘s movable property with the criminal intent to appropriate it to the robber's own use. A prartorian action lay for this offense. in which quadruple damages were recoverable. Galus, lib. 3, § 209: lust. 4. 2; Mackeld. Rom. Law, § 481; Heiuecc. Eiem. § 1071.
RAPPORT A SUCCESSION. In French inn‘ and in Louisiana. A p1occe(l.lng similar to hotchpot; the restoration to the succession of such property as the heir may have received by way of advancement from the decedent, in order that an even division may be made among all the co-heirs. Civ. Code La. art. 1305.
RAPTOR. In old English law. lsher. Fleta, lib. 2, c. 52, § 12.
A rav-
RAPTU HIEREDIS. In old English law. A writ for taking away an heir holding in socage, of which there were two sorts: One when the heir was married; the other when he was not. Reg. Orig. 163.
RAPUIT. Lat. In old English law. Rnvished. A technical word in old indict- ments. 2 East, 30.
RASURE. The act of scraping, scratching, or shaving the surface of a written instrument, for the purpose of removing certain letters or words from it. It is to be distinguished from "ob1iter:ition," as the latter word properly denotes the crossing out of a word or letter by drawing a line through it with ink. But the two expressions are often used interchangeably. See Penny V. Corwithe, 18 Johns. (N. Y.) 499.
RASUS. In old English law. A rase; a measure of onions, containing twenty flones, and each fionis twenty-five heads. Fleta, lib. 2, C. 12, E 12.
RATABLE ESTATE. Within the meaning of a tax law, this term means "taxable estate;" the reai and personal property which the legislature designates as "tat- able." Marshfield v. Middlescx, 55 Vt. 546.
RATAM REM HABERE. Lat. In the civil law. To hold a thing ratified; to rati- fy or confirm it. Dig. 46, 8, 12, 1.
RATE. Proportional or relative value, measure, or degree; the proportion or stand- ard by which quantity or value is adjusted Thus, the rate of interest is the proportion or ratio between the principal and interest. So the buildings in a town are rated for insurance purposes: 5. 2., riassified and indi- vidually estimated with reference to their insurable qualifies. In this sense also we speak of articles as being in "first-rate" or "second-rote" condition
Absoiute mensure. value, or degree. Thus, we speak of the rate at which public lands are sold, of the ‘rates of fare upon railroads, See Georgia R. E: B. Co. v. Maddox, 116 Ga. 64, 42 E. 315: Chase v. New York Cent. R. Co.. 26 N. Y. 536; People v. Dolan. 36 N. Y. 67.
The term is also used as the synonym of "tax;" that is, l1 sum assessed by governmental authority upon persons or property. by proportional valuation, for public purposes. It is chiefly employed in this sense in England, but is there usually confined to taxes of a local nature, or those raised by the parish; such as the poor-rate, borough rate, etc.
It sometimes occurs in a connection which gives it a meaning synonymous with "assessment:" that is, the apportionment of a tax among the whole number of persons who are responsible for it, by estimating the val- ne of the taxable property of each, and making a proportionai distribution of the nlmle amount. Thuswe speak of ‘‘rating" persons and property.
In marine insurance, the term refers to the classification or scaling of vessels based on their relative state and condition in re- gard to insurable qualities: thus. a vessel in the best possible condition and offcriiig the best risk from the underwriter's stand- point. is "rated" as "A 1" See Insurance Companies v. Wright, 1 Wall. 472, 17 L. Ed. 505.
—Rate of exchange. In commercial law The actual price nt which a biii, drawn in one country upon another country, can he bnurzlit or obtained in the former country at any given time. Story, Bills, § 31.—Rate-tithe. In English law. Whtn any sheep, or other cattle, are kept in a parish for less time than 11 year, the owner must pay tithe for them pro rain, -ic-
cording to the custom of the place. Fitzh. Nat Brsv. 51. RATIFICATION. The confirmation of a
previous nct done either by the party him- self or by another; confirmation of a mid- nbie act See Story, Ag. §§ 250. 231; 2 Kent,
