Source : Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)

Hilary term \Hil"a*ry term`\
   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.

   Note: The Hilary term is superseded by the Hilary sittings,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.