wager, wajour

[O. Fr. wageure, gageure, from Low Lat. wadiatura, from wadiatus, pa. par. of wadio =to wage (q. v.).] I. Ordinary Language : 1. Something deposited, staked, or hazarded on the event of a contest or some unsettled question; something staked by each of two persons in support of his own opinion concerning a future or an unknown event; a stake. The party whose opinion proves to be correct receives what has been staked by both. By statutes of the United States, all con tracts or agreements, whether in writing or parole, depending on wagers, are null and void, and the wager or money due thereon cannot be recovered in a court of law. A wager lost is, therefore, only a debt of honor. "For most men (till by losing rendered sager) Will back their own opinions with a wager." Byron: Beppo, xxvii. 2. An occasion upon which two persons make a bet; a bet. 3. That on which bets are laid; the subject of a bet. II. Eng . Law : An offer to make oath of innocence, or of non-indebtedne ; or the act of making oath, together with the oaths of eleven compurgators, to fortify the defendant's oath.