Webster's English Dictionary

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assize

as.size \*-'si-z\ n [ME assise, fr. OF, session, settlement, fr. asseoir to 
   seat, fr. (]assumed) VL assede-re, fr. L asside-re to sit beside, assist in 
   the office of a judge, fr. ad- + sede-re to sit - more at SIT 1: an 
   enactment made by a legislative assembly : ORDINANCE  2a: a statute 
   regulating weights and measures of articles sold in the market 2b: the 
   regulation of the price of bread or ale by the price of grain  3: a fixed 
   or customary standard  4a: a judicial inquest  4b: an action to be decided 
   by such an inquest, the writ for instituting it, or the verdict or finding 
   rendered by the jury 5a: the periodical sessions of the superior courts in 
   English counties for trial of civil and criminal cases - usu. used in pl. 
   5b: the time or place of holding such a court, the court itself, or a session
   of it - usu. used in pl.