thing adjudged

from Bouvier's Law Dictionary, Revised 6th Ed (1856)

THING ADJUDGED. That which has been decided by a final judgment, by a 
tribunal of competent jurisdiction, from which there can be no appeal, 
either because the appeal did not lie, or because the time fixed by law for 
the appealing has elapsed, or because it has been confirmed on the appeal. 
Vide res judicata. 
     2. The Roman law agrees with ours, for it requires a final judgment or 
sentence before the decision acquires the force of the thing adjudged. Dig. 
42, 1; Code, 7, 52; Extravag. 2, 27.