v. This verb has two significations: (1) to command or require by a rule of court; as, to rule the sheriff to return the writ, to rule the defendant to plead. (2) To settle or decide a point of law arising upon a trial at nisi prius; and, when it is said of a judge presiding at such a trial that he “ruled” so and so, it is meant that he laid down, settled, or decided such and such to be the law.
Black’s Law Online Dictionary
