Compendia Sunt Dispendia - Definition - Law Dictionary Home Dictionary Definition compendia-sunt-dispendia

Definition :

Compendia sunt dispendia. (Abbreviations are detriments.) 'It is ever good to rely upon the book at large, for many times compendia sunt dispendia, and melius est petere fontes quam sectari rvulos.'-Co. Litt. 305 b. This passage from Coke is taken as the motto to Smith's Leading Cases.