Damages

Award of the law for the redre of actionable injuries. An act which harms another without entitling him to damages is Damnum absque injuria, as where one, in the lawful use of his land, impairs the value of his neighbor's. Damages are compensatory, when they simply pay for the harm; exemplary, vindictive, or primitive, when besides compensating the plaintiff they punish the defendant, as in aggravated cases of libel; nominal, when they are a trifle as compared with the cost of obtaining them. A verdict for nominal damages may mean that the action is brought to establish a right, when no damage beyond the denial of the right has been sustained, or that the jury have a poor opinion of the plaintiff, although he has been technically wronged.