Dictionaries of the Scots Language
Dictionars o the Scots Leid

Scottish National Dictionary (1700–)

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First published 1968 (SND Vol. VII).
This entry has not been updated since then but may contain minor corrections and revisions.

PRECARIUM, n. Sc. Law: a loan redeemable expressly at the lender's pleasure without a specified time-limit, “a loan which can be recalled at will” (Sc. 1946 A. D. Gibb Legal Terms 66). [′prə′keriam]Sc. 1773 Erskine Institute iii. i. § 25:
The contract of precarium is a gratuitous loan, in which the lender either gives the use of the subject in express words, revocable at pleasure; or gives it in general terms to be used by the borrower, without specifying any determinate time or use. In either case, it may be redemanded by the owner when he thinks fit.