consuetudinary n : a manual describing the customs of a particular group (especially the ceremonial practices of a monastic order) [syn: consuetudinal]

English

Noun

1. a ritual book containing the forms and ceremonies used in the services of a particular monastery, cathedral or religious order.

   Quotations

   • 1964: Winchester itself was an early centre of the manufacture of chanlons, which were rugs used for coverlets or counterpanes, and in the consuetudinary of the city, which dates back at least to the early years of the thirteenth century, the looms are divided into two classes, the 'great looms' used for burel weaving paying 5s. per year, and the 'little looms' for chanlons paying 6d. or 12d., according to their size. — L.F. Salzman, English Industries of the Middle Ages, p. 200.

See also

Consuetudinary (Med. Lat. consuetudinarius, from consuetudo: custom), customary, a term applied to law where the rule of law is determined by long-standing customs as opposed to case law or legislative processes leading to novel statutory written law. Most laws of consuetudinary basis deal with standards of community that have been long-established in a given locale. However the term "consuetudinary" can also apply to areas of international law where certain standards have been nearly universal in their acceptance as correct bases of action—in example, laws against piracy or slavery. In many, though not all instances, consuetudinary laws will have supportive court rulings and case law that has evolved over time to give additional weight to their rule as law and also to demonstrate the trajectory of evolution (if any) in the interpretation of such law by relevant courts.

See also

• Oral law
• Custom