Source : Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)

Certiorari \Cer`ti*o*ra"ri\, n. [So named from the emphatic word
   certiorari in the Latin form of the writ, which read
   certiorar volumus we wish to be certified.] (Law)
   A writ issuing out of chancery, or a superior court, to call
   up the records of a inferior court, or remove a cause there
   depending, in order that the party may have more sure and
   speedy justice, or that errors and irregularities may be
   corrected. It is obtained upon complaint of a party that he
   has not received justice, or can not have an impartial trial
   in the inferior court.

   Note: A certiorari is the correct process to remove the
         proceedings of a court in which cases are tried in a
         manner different from the course of the common law, as
         of county commissioners. It is also used as an
         auxiliary process in order to obtain a full return to
         some other process. --Bouvier.

Source : WordNet®

certiorari
     n : a common law writ issued by a superior court to one of
         inferior jurisdiction demanding the record of a
         particular case [syn: {writ of certiorari}]