Avowry

[0. Fr. avourie; L. Lat. advocaria.] ( Law. ) The answer of a defendant in an action of replevin brought to recover property taken in distre , in which he acknowledges the taking, and, setting forth the cause thereof, claims a right in himself or his wife to do so. Avoyelles, in Louisiana , a parish at the mouth of the Red River. Area , about 800 sq. m. It is bounded E. by Red River and the Atchafalaya, and N.E. by the Saline Bayou. The E. part is periodically inundated, but the W. consists of fertile prairies. Cap . Marksville. Pop . in 1890, 25,112; in 1897, about 26,200. Avranches, ( av'ranzh ,) (anc. Ingena ,) a town of France, dep. Manche, cap. of an arrond., 32 m. S.S.W. of St. Lô, and 3 m. from the sea. This is a very ancient town. Its cathedral, consecrated in 1121, is now in ruins. In it, in 1172, Henry II. of England did penance, and received absolution for the murder of A'Beckett. Pop . 9,397. "A pound of that same merchant's flesh is thine; The court awards it, and the law doth give it."- Shaks . -v. i. To make an award; to judge; to determine. "Th' unwise award to lodge it in the tow'rs, An off ring sacred."-Pope's Ody ey.