Dedication

Solemn appropriation. It may be expressed or implied.

An express dedication of property to public use is made by a direct appropriation of it to such use, and it will be enforced.

A dedication of property to public or pious uses may be implied from the acts of the owner. E.g., permission to the public for the space of eight or even six years, to use a street without bar or impediment, is evidence from which a dedication to the public may be inferred.
   

This entry contains material from Bouvier's Legal Dictionary, a work published in the 1850's.