Thursday, May 6, 2010

Paraphernalia

I was looking up the spelling of paraphernalia, and I discovered the historical meaning. Old views of gender and property rights are really strange.

3 comments:

Hope said...

Neil, FYI the OED is subscription only. You may want to find another source for the definition, or quote it at length. Miriam-Webster is free.

Neil Sinhababu said...

Oh! Thanks, Hope. Here's the oldest definition:

1. Law. With pl. concord. Articles of personal property, esp. clothing and ornaments, which (exceptionally at common law) did not automatically transfer from the property of the wife to the husband by virtue of the marriage. Now hist.

In most modern systems of law based on the Roman, paraphernalia bona (in French biens paraphernaux) means much the same thing as the Roman parapherna (cf. PARAPHERNA n.), but in English and Scottish Common law, under which all personal or movable property of a wife was vested ipso jure in the husband, the paraphernalia became restricted to such purely personal belongings of a wife as dress, jewels, and the like. While the husband retained legal possession of these, the wife had free use of them and retained them on her husband's death. But in neither England nor Scotland did paraphernalia strictly include articles like household furniture, even if these had been marriage presents to the wife. Since the Married Women's Property Acts of 1870, 1882, etc., the term has possessed little or no significance in English and Scottish legal practice.

1651 W. SHEPPARD Faithf. Councellor xvii. 132 The word Parophonalia [sic] is used in our Law, but in the Civil Law the thing is said to be Paraphernalia. 1656 T. BLOUNT Glossographia, Paraphonalia, is used in our Law, but in the Civil it is Paraphernalia, which are those Goods a Wife brings her Husband, over and besides her Dowry or Marriage money. 1664 J. WILSON Cheats III. iv. 42 Will your Ladiship be pleas'd to accept it?{em}I assure you, 'tis at your service; It shall be part of your Parafernalia. 1718 LD. MACCLESFIELD in Ld. Campbell Lives Chancellors (1846) IV. cxxii. 527 Paraphernalia are not deviseable by the husband from the wife. 1728 J. VANBRUGH & C. CIBBER Provok'd Husband To Rdr. sig. A5v, The Ornaments she herself provided..seem'd in all Respects, the Paraphonalia of a Woman of Quality. 1766 W. BLACKSTONE Comm. Laws Eng. II. xxix. 436 The jewels of a peeress..have been held to be paraphernalia. 1774 M. DELANY Let. to B. Granville in Autobiogr. & Corr. 2nd Ser. II. 33 The law restored them to her as her own paraphanalia. 1842 H. J. STEPHEN New Comm. Laws Eng. III. 302 Her bed, her apparel, and her personal ornaments..under the name of paraphernalia. 1884 M. LUSH Law Husband & Wife 40 The law permitted a married woman to acquire a limited property in such personal chattels as came within the definition of ‘Paraphernalia’. 1909 Times 29 July 3/2 There can be no question of paraphernalia during the husband's life.

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