Any circumstance attending the commission of a crime or tort which increases its guilt or enormity or adds to its injurious consequences, but which is above and beyond the essential constituents of the crime or tort itself. Matter of aggravation , correctly understood, does not consist in acts of the same kind and description as those constituting the gist of the action, but in something done by the defendant, on the occasion of committing the trespass, which is, to some extent, of a different legal character from the principal act complained of. Hathaway v. Rice, 19 Vt. 107. In pleading. The introduction of matter into the declaration which tends to increase the amount of damages, but does not affect the right of action itself. Steph. PI. 257; 12 Mod. 597.
Black’s Law Online Dictionary
