Elegit

Elegit, the name of the writ by which, after judgment in an action has been obteiined, the sheriff gives the judgment creditor possession of the lands and tenements of the opposite party to be occupied and enjoyed until the money due on such judgment debt is fully paid, and during the time the judgment creditor so holds them he is called tenant by Elegit, his estate being a mere conditional one defeasible as soon as the judgment debt is levied. By this writ formerly only one-half of the lands and tenements of judgment debtor could be taken in execution, but a statute passed very early in the present reign for the first time enabled the judgment creditor to seize by that writ the whole of the judgment debtor's lands and tenements.