Formerly, one of the four terms of the courts of common law in England, beginning on the eleventh of January and ending on the thirty-first of the same month, in each year; -- so called from the festival of St. Hilary, January 13th. [
1913 Webster]
" The Hilary term is superseded by the Hilary sittings, which commence on the eleventh of January and end on the Wednesday before Easter." Mozley & W.
[1913 Webster]