time immemorial
NounOpen English WordNet
Noun (1)
- the distant past beyond memorySynonyms: time out of mindType of past, past times
What does it mean? Question 1 of today’s quiz
Webster's Dictionary (1913)
Eng. Law., a time antedating (legal) history, and beyond “legal memory” so called; formerly an indefinite time, but in 1276 this time was fixed by statute as the begining of the reign of Richard I. (1189). Proof of unbroken possession or use of any right since that date made it unnecessary to establish the original grant. In 1832 the plan of dating legal memory from a fixed time was abandoned and the principle substituted that rights which had been enjoyed for full twenty years (or as against the crown thirty years) should not be liable to impeachment merely by proving that they had not been enjoyed before.
From the entry Immemorial.
. English law See under Immemorial.
From the entry Time.
Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913), from GCIDE 0.54