A commodate (''commodatum''), also known as loan for use, in

civil law Civil law may refer to: * Civil law (common law), the part of law that concerns private citizens and legal persons * Civil law (legal system), or continental law, a legal system originating in continental Europe and based on Roman law ** Private la ...

and

Scots Law Scots law () is the legal system of Scotland. It is a hybrid or mixed legal system containing civil law and common law elements, that traces its roots to a number of different historical sources. Together with English law and Northern Ireland ...

is a gratuitous

loan In finance, a loan is the lending of money by one or more individuals, organizations, or other entities to other individuals, organizations, etc. The recipient (i.e., the borrower) incurs a debt and is usually liable to pay interest on that ...

; a loan, or free concession of anything moveable or immoveable, for a certain timeframe, on condition of restoring again the same individual after a certain time. It is a kind of loan, or

contract A contract is a legally enforceable agreement between two or more parties that creates, defines, and governs mutual rights and obligations between them. A contract typically involves the transfer of goods, services, money, or a promise to ...

, with one difference: the commodate is ''

gratis Gratis may refer to: * Free, meaning without charge. See Gratis versus libre * Gratis, Ohio, a village in Preble County, US * Gratis Township, Preble County, Ohio, US See also * Free (disambiguation) Free may refer to: Concept * Freedom, ...

'', and does not transfer the property; the thing must be returned in essence, and without deterioration, so that things which consume by use, or time, cannot be objects of a commodate, but of a loan, because although they may be returned in kind, they cannot in identity.

References

* *''Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary'' (1913) Scots law legal terminology Contract law {{UK-law-stub eo:Luejo