petty bag

noun

variants: or petty-bag office

Definition of petty bag

: a former office of the common-law side of the English Chancery Court having jurisdiction in suits for and against solicitors and officers of the court, in proceedings by extents on statutes, recognizance, scire facias, certiorari, and in other cases closely affecting the interests of the subject

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Origin and Etymology of petty bag

petty bag from obsolete English petty small (from Middle English pety) + English bag; from the fact that the record of each case was kept in a small bag