Lat. In the civil law. A doctrine or fiction of the law by which the restoration of a person to any status or right formerly possessed by him was considered as relating back to the time of hls origiual loss or deprivation; particu-larly In the case of one who, haviug been taken prisoner in war, and having escaped and returned to Rome, was regarded, by the aid of this fiction, as having never been abroad, and was thereby reinstated in all hid rights. Inst. 1, 12, 5
Source: Black’s Law Dictionary 2nd Ed (1910)
