A commodate (), also known as loan for use, in civil law and

Scots Law Scots law () is the List of country legal systems, legal system of Scotland. It is a hybrid or mixed legal system containing Civil law (legal system), civil law and common law elements, that traces its roots to a number of different histori ...

is a gratuitous

loan In finance, a loan is the tender of money by one party to another with an agreement to pay it back. The recipient, or borrower, incurs a debt and is usually required to pay interest for the use of the money. The document evidencing the deb ...

; 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 an agreement that specifies certain legally enforceable rights and obligations pertaining to two or more parties. A contract typically involves consent to transfer of goods, services, money, or promise to transfer any of thos ...

, with one difference: the commodate is ''

gratis Gratis may refer to: * Free (''gratis''), meaning without charge * Gratis, Ohio, a village in Preble County, US * Gratis Township, Preble County, Ohio, US * Gratis Internet, a US referral marketing company See also * Free (disambiguation) Free m ...

'', 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