ORIGINAL JURISDICTION, practice. That which is given to courts to take
cognizance of cases which may be instituted in those courts in the first
instance. The constitution of the United States gives the supreme court of
the United State original jurisdiction in cases which affect ambassadors,
other public ministers and consuls, and to those in which a state is a
party. Art. 3, s. 2; 1 Kent, Com. 314.