nuisance

nuisance
/nooh"seuhns, nyooh"-/, n.
1. an obnoxious or annoying person, thing, condition, practice, etc.: a monthly meeting that was more nuisance than pleasure.
2. Law. something offensive or annoying to individuals or to the community, esp. in violation of their legal rights.
[1375-1425; late ME nu(i)sa(u)nce < AF, equiv. to nuis(er) to harm ( L nocere) + -ance -ANCE]

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In law, an act, object, or practice that interferes with another's rights or interests by being offensive, annoying, dangerous, obstructive, or unhealthful.

Such activities as obstructing a public road, polluting air and water, operating a house of prostitution, or keeping explosives are public nuisances and constitute criminal violations. A private nuisance is an activity or condition (e.g., excessive noise, disagreeable odor) that interferes with the use and enjoyment of one's property and that may be a cause of action in civil litigation. An attractive nuisance is something on one's property that poses a risk to children or others who may be attracted to it.

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law
      in law, a human activity or a physical condition that is harmful or offensive to others and gives rise to a cause of action. A public nuisance created in a public place or on public land, or affecting the morals, safety, or health of the community, is considered an offense against the state. Such activities as obstructing a public road, polluting air and water, operating a house of prostitution, and keeping explosives are public nuisances. A private nuisance is an activity or condition that interferes with the use and enjoyment of neighbouring privately owned lands, without, however, constituting an actual invasion of the property. Thus, excessive noise, noxious vapours, and disagreeable odours and vibrations may constitute a private nuisance to the neighbouring landowners, although there has been no physical trespass on their lands.

      While a public nuisance, as such, is actionable only by the state, through criminal proceedings, injunction, or physical abatement, the same activity or conduct may also create a private nuisance to neighbouring landowners and thus result in a civil suit. The conduct of a business in violation of a zoning ordinance creates a public nuisance, but it also may be actionable as a private nuisance by neighbours who can prove a decrease in the market value of their homes as a result.

      Because a private nuisance is based upon interference with the use and enjoyment of land, it is actionable only by persons who have a property interest in such land. If the interference merely makes the use and enjoyment less comfortable, without inflicting physical damage to the land, the courts consider the character of the neighbourhood to determine whether the activity or condition is an unreasonable interference. An activity that causes physical damage to neighbouring land, however, will be held to be an actionable nuisance irrespective of the character of the neighbourhood. Such cases usually involve vibrations that cause walls to crack or noxious vapours that destroy vegetation.

      The legal remedies available in the case of a private nuisance are actions to enjoin the operation or continuance of the activity or condition or to collect money damages. If the abatement of a nuisance by injunction would impose an excessive hardship on the community (the closing of factories that would deprive community workers of their livelihood), the usual practice of the courts is to deny an injunction and award money damages for the injury suffered.

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Universalium. 2010.

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  • nuisance — nui·sance / nüs əns, nyüs / n [Anglo French nusaunce, from Old French nuire to harm, from Latin nocēre]: something (as an act, object, or practice) that invades or interferes with another s rights or interests (as the use or enjoyment of… …   Law dictionary

  • nuisance — is that activity which arises from unreasonable, unwarranted or unlawful use by a person of his own property, working obstruction or injury to right of another, or to the public, and producing such material annoyance, inconvenience and discomfort …   Black's law dictionary

  • nuisance — is that activity which arises from unreasonable, unwarranted or unlawful use by a person of his own property, working obstruction or injury to right of another, or to the public, and producing such material annoyance, inconvenience and discomfort …   Black's law dictionary

  • nuisance — [ nɥizɑ̃s ] n. f. • 1120, repris v. 1960, par l angl. nuisance; de nuire I ♦ Vx ou région. Caractère de ce qui est nuisible; chose nuisible. II ♦ (1936 nuisance industrielle) Ensemble de facteurs d origine technique (bruits, dégradations,… …   Encyclopédie Universelle

  • nuisance — nui‧sance [ˈnjuːsns ǁ ˈnuː ] noun [countable, uncountable] LAW someone or something that causes public annoyance: • After a local jury found the noise was a nuisance, a judge ruled that the bell can no longer ring at night. • movement of… …   Financial and business terms

  • nuisance — Nuisance, f. penac. Incommodum, Noxa. Avec nuisance, Nocenter. Sans nuisance, Innocenter …   Thresor de la langue françoyse

  • Nuisance — Nui sance, n. [OE. noisance, OF. noisance, nuisance, fr. L. nocentia guilt, fr. nocere to hurt, harm; akin to necare to kill. Cf {Necromancy}, {Nocent}, {Noxious}, {Pernicious}.] That which annoys or gives trouble and vexation; that which is… …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • nuisance — (n.) c.1400, injury, hurt, harm, from Anglo Fr. nusaunce, O.Fr. nuisance harm, wrong, damage, from pp. stem of nuire to harm, from L. nocere to hurt (see NOXIOUS (Cf. noxious)). Sense has softened over time, to anything obnoxious to a community… …   Etymology dictionary

  • Nuisance — (engl., spr. njūßens), Beeinträchtigung, etwas die Nachbarschaft oder die Allgemeinheit Belästigendes …   Meyers Großes Konversations-Lexikon

  • nuisance — [n] annoyance; annoying person besetment, blister, bore, bother, botheration, botherment, bum*, creep, drag*, drip*, exasperation, frump, gadfly, headache*, inconvenience, infliction, insect*, irritant, irritation, louse, nag*, nudge*, offense,… …   New thesaurus

  • nuisance — ► NOUN ▪ a person or thing causing inconvenience or annoyance. ORIGIN Old French, hurt , from Latin nocere to harm …   English terms dictionary

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