- a law that rests for its authority on custom, judicial decision, etc., as distinguished from law originating in written command, statute, or decree.
- the supposed principle of the right of the individual to avenge wrongs against personal or family honor, especially in cases involving relations between the sexes: sometimes urged in justification of persons guilty of criminal acts of vengeance.
- the law based upon custom, usage, and judicial decisions, as distinguished from the enactments of a legislature, orders or decrees in writing, etc
- the tradition that a person may avenge any insult to family integrity, as used to justify criminal acts of vengeance
