DCHP-2

burglary DCHP-2 (October 2016)

• n. — Law, Administration

  the act of breaking into a building with the intent of committing theft.

  The term burglary refers to the act of illegally entering a building "with intent to commit theft, do bodily harm, or do damage" (see COD-2, s.v. "burglary"). The term was said to be used as early as the implementation of English Common Law in Canada and was subsequently incorporated into the 1892 Criminal Code. Note that it is no longer used in the Canadian legal context (see Canadian Encyclopedia reference), as it was replaced with the phrase "breaking and entering" (see Justice Laws reference). Although the term is still used in Canada, it is far more frequent in the UK and the US (see Chart 1). The term's prevalence in Quebec English (see Chart 2) may be explained by an adherence of Quebec media outlets to the older legal term.
  COD-2 marks the term as formerly used "In Canadian law", recently replaced by breaking and entering, see the entry break and enter.

  See also: break and enter