A legal agreement where one person takes on the debt or obligation of another person.
From Latin 'ad-' (to) + 'promissio' (promise), derived from 'promittere' (to send forth, promise). The term developed in Roman law to describe the assumption of another's debt.
This is a surprisingly practical legal concept from ancient Rome that's still used today—imagine if your friend borrowed money and legally transferred that debt to you through a formal promise. It shows how Romans created systematic ways to handle complex financial relationships.
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