mancipatio

A New Latin Dictionary by Charlton T. Lewis Ph.D. and Charles Short, LL. D.

mancĭpātĭo (mancŭp-), ōnis, f. [mancipo],

a making over, delivery, transfer of a thing to another; one of the modes of acquiring possession by the Roman civil law; hence, also, for purchase : qui mancipio accipit, apprehendere id ipsum, quod ei mancipio datur, necesse sit: unde etiam mancipatio dicitur, quia manu res capitur, Gai. Inst. 1, 121 (v. the passage in full under mancipium): mancupationem tabulis probare, the purchase , Plin. 9, 35, 58, § 117.