Crossword Dictionary

What's The Definition Of Comity?

\Com"i*ty\, n.; pl. {Comities}. [L. comitas, fr. comis courteous, kind.] Mildness and suavity of manners; courtesy between equals; friendly civility; as, comity of manners; the comity of States. {Comity of nations} (International Law), the courtesy by which nations recognize within their own territory, or in their courts, the peculiar institutions of another nation or the rights and privileges acquired by its citizens in their own land. By some authorities private international law rests on this comity, but the better opinion is that it is part of the common law of the land, and hence is obligatory as law. Syn: Civility; good breeding; courtesy; good will.