Law. [L. = of one’s own right.]
a. Anc. Roman Law. Of the status of one who was not subject to the patria potestas.
a. 1614. Donne, Βιαθανατος (1644), 105. If a sonne which had not beene Sui juris had beene made Consul, he might have emancipated himselfe.
1867. Chambers’ Encycl., IX. 194/2. A son did not become sui juris by marriage. Ibid., 195/1. Connubium being the foundation of the patria potestas, a bastard was sui juris.
b. Modern Law. Of full age and capacity, legally competent to manage one’s own affairs.
1675. Marq. Worcester, in Essex Papers (Camden), 38. Shee is of an age not only of consent and dissent but to be sui juris.
1749. Fielding, Tom Jones, I. xii. The woman is … sui juris, and of a proper age to be entirely answerable only to herself.
1821. Scott, Pirate, iv. Miss Babie … had been major and sui juris, (as the writer who drew the contract assured her) for full twenty years.
c. transf. One’s own master.
1655. Fuller, Ch. Hist., V. (1837), II. 18. The pope at this time was not sui juris, being a prisoner to the emperor.
