Law Dictionary of Legal Terminology

PRECIPUT

PRECIPUT, French law. An object which is ascertained by law or the agreement of the parties, and which is first to be taken out of property held in common, by one having a right, before a partition takes place.

2. The preciput is an advantage, or a principal part to which some one is entitled, praecipium jus, which is the origin of the word preciput. Dict. de Jur. h. t.; Poth. h. t. By preciput is also understood the right to sue out the preciput.