| Accessary | a. Accompanying, as a subordinate; additional; accessory; esp., uniting in, or contributing to, a crime, but not as chief actor. See Accessory. [ 1913 Webster ] To both their deaths thou shalt be accessary. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ] Amongst many secondary and accessary causes that support monarchy, these are not of least reckoning. Milton. [ 1913 Webster ] |
| Accessary | n.; pl. Accessaries [ Cf. Accessory and LL. accessarius. ] (Law) One who, not being present, contributes as an assistant or instigator to the commission of an offense. [ 1913 Webster ]
Accessary before the fact (Law), one who commands or counsels an offense, not being present at its commission. --
Accessary after the fact, one who, after an offense, assists or shelters the offender, not being present at the commission of the offense. [ 1913 Webster ]
☞ This word, as used in law, is spelt accessory by Blackstone and many others; but in this sense is spelt accessary by Bouvier, Burrill, Burns, Whishaw, Dane, and the Penny Cyclopedia; while in other senses it is spelt accessory. In recent text-books on criminal law the distinction is not preserved, the spelling being either accessary or accessory. [ 1913 Webster ] |
