In flagrante delicto

In flagrante delicto

"In flagrante delicto" (Latin: "in the blazing [progressing] offence [misdeed] ") or sometimes simply "in flagrante" (Latin: "while blazing [during] ") is a legal term used to indicate that a criminal has been caught in the act of committing an offence (compare corpus delicti). The colloquial "caught " or "caught in the act" are English equivalents.

French Economist Frederic Bastiat, in his "Parable of the Broken Window" (a satire regarding those who would say that economic benefits accrue to the community because of the new transactions that are "created" upon the breaking of a window), said that "this formula of condolence contains a whole theory that it is a good idea for us to expose, flagrante delicto, in this very simple case...."

The Latin term is sometimes used colloquially as a euphemism for a couple being caught in the act of sexual intercourse, as it is used in the film "Clue"; in modern usage the intercourse need not be adulterous or illicitFact|date=March 2008.


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  • flagrante delicto — fla·gran·te de·lic·to /flə grän tē də lik tō, gran ; flä grän tā dā lēk tō/ adv or adj [Medieval Latin, literally, while the crime is blazing]: in the very act of committing a misdeed was caught flagrante delicto; also: in the midst of sexual… …   Law dictionary

  • flagrante delicto — n. see IN FLAGRANTE DELICTO …   English World dictionary

  • flagrante delicto — лат. (флагрантэ дэликто) см. en flagrant dйlit. Толковый словарь иностранных слов Л. П. Крысина. М: Русский язык, 1998 …   Словарь иностранных слов русского языка

  • flagrante delicto — flə|grantēdə̇ˈlik(ˌ)tō, flā| adverb Etymology: Medieval Latin, literally, while the crime is blazing : in the very act of committing a misdeed caught the thief flagrante delicto sometimes used substantively * * * /fleuh gran tee di lik toh/, Law …   Useful english dictionary

  • flagrante delicto — adverb Date: 1826 in flagrante delicto …   New Collegiate Dictionary

  • flagrante delicto — fla|gran|te de|lic|to see IN FLAGRANTE DELICTO …   Usage of the words and phrases in modern English

  • flagrante delicto —    (flah GRAHN teh deh LIKtoh, ihn flah GRAHN teh deh LIK toh) [Latin] In the very act of committing a crime or offense.    after (her) husband and for mer bodyguard was photographed in flagrante delicto at a Riviera villa Time, January 20, 1997 …   Dictionary of foreign words and phrases

  • flagrante delicto — UK / US See: in flagrante delicto …   English dictionary

  • flagrante delicto — /fləˌgrænti dəˈlɪktoʊ/ (say fluh.grantee duh liktoh) adverb Law in the very act: to be caught flagrante delicto. {Latin: the transgression blazing} …  

  • in flagrante delicto — adv: flagrante delicto Merriam Webster’s Dictionary of Law. Merriam Webster. 1996. in flagrante delicto …   Law dictionary

  • in flagrante delicto — in flagrante (delicto) humorous if someone is discovered in flagrante delicto, they are discovered doing something wrong, especially having sex with someone who is not their husband or wife. She came home to catch her husband in flagrante delicto …   New idioms dictionary

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