Discrepancy

A difference between one thing and another, between one writing and another; a variance.

Discrepancies are material and immaterial. A discrepancy is material when there is such a difference between a thing alleged and a thing offered in evidence, as to show they are not substantially the same; e.g., when the plaintiff in his declaration for a malicious arrest averred, that 'the plaintiff, in that action, did not prosecute his said suit, but therein made default,' and the record was that he obtained a rule to discontinue. An immaterial discrepancy is one which does not materially affect the cause; e.g., where a declaration stated that a deed bore date in a certain year of our Lord, and the deed was simply dated 'March 30, 1701.'
   

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