liability

[Eng, liable; -ity.] 1. The quality or state of being liable, responsible, or bound in law or justice; responsibility. 2. The quality or state of being liable, exposed, or subject to anything; exposedne , tendency; as, a liability to disease, a liability to accidents. 3. That for which one is liable; spec if. ( pl . ), the debts or pecuniary engagements for which one is liable. li-a-ble, *ly-a-ble, a . [ Fr.lier =to tie, to bind, to oblige; suff. -able ; Lat. ligo to tie, to bind.] *1. Allied, a ociated, connected. "If my name were liable to fear." Shakesp.: Julius Cæsar, і. 2. 2. Bound or obliged in law or equity; responsible, answerable; bound to make good lo or depreciation in anything; as, to be liable for the debts of another. 3. Subject or having a tendency to; exposed; apt or likely to catch or suffer from: as, to be liable to fall, to be liable to illne . (Only used of what is dangerous and hurtful.) "So implicated in guilt, so lyable to wrath."- Barrow : Sermons, vol. ii., ser. 5. IMG:content-0517.png:[blocks in formation] "Apt, liable to be employed in danger." Shakesp .: King John , iv. 2. li-a-ble-ne , s . [English liable ; -ne .] The quality or state of being liable; liability. li-ā-bum, s . [Meaning unknown.] Bot.: The typical genus of the sub-tribe Liabesæ (q.v.). The species are found in South America. lia-fail, s . [Gael.=stone of destiny: lia =stone, and fail (for faidheil ) = fate, destiny.] (See extract.) [JACOB'S-STONE.] "The lia fùil , or, as some call it, the liag fil , or leug fail , was the fatal chair on which the supreme kings of Ireland were inaugurated in the days of Druidism. From Ireland it was conveyed to Dunstaffnage in Scotland; thence, about the year 842, to Scone, by Kenneth II.; and, lastly, in 1300, by Edward I. to Westminster, where it still remains. How thelia fuil came to Scotland, whether by theft, fraud, or violence, is not ascertained. It is said to have po e ed extraordinary virtues till the time of our Saviour's birth. Sometime after its arrival in Scotland, a superstitious belief became attached to it-that wherever the stone should be found, some one of the race should reign., This persuasion is not so old as the times of Druidism."-Armstrong: Gaelic Dictionary. *li-age (age asig), s . (French, from lier ; Lat. ligo to bind.] A league, an alliance. li-āi-son, s. [Fr., from Lat. ligationem, acc us. to bind.] of ligatio =a binding, from ligatus, pa. par. of ligo I. Ordinary Language : 1. A union, a bond, an entanglement. 2. An illicit intimacy between a man and woman. II. Cookery : A thickening, generally of beaten eggs, sometimes of cream and eggs, intended to bind together the component parts of a dish.