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VOCABULARY LISTS > USER LISTS

Legal words, terms, and concepts 45 words

September 4, 2009 By Art G. (Oldsmar, FL)
For those who listen to supreme court podcasts (and aren't lawyers), here's a peppering of legal vocabulary (note: these words may have different meanings to a lawyer than they do to a common person, i.e. "estate," for the purpose of estate planning, may mean: (a) The interest which a person has in property; (b) The aggregate of property which a person owns).

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Definitions Notes & Examples Words Only
  1. a fortiori
    with greater reason; for a still stronger, more certain reason
  2. ab initio
    at the beginning
  3. annulment
    the act of abrogating; an official or legal cancellation
  4. appellant
    of or relating to or taking account of appeals (usually legal appeals)
  5. appellate
    of or relating to or taking account of appeals (usually legal appeals)
  6. arrears
    the state of being behind in payments
  7. bilateral
    having two sides or parts
  8. capacity
    capability to perform or produce
  9. codicil
    a supplement to a will; a testamentary instrument intended to alter an already executed will
  10. common law
    (civil law) a law established by following earlier judicial decisions
  11. condonation
    a pardon by treating the offender as if the offense had not occurred
  12. corroborative
    serving to support or corroborate
  13. custody
    (with `in') guardianship over; in divorce cases it is the right to house and care for and discipline a child
  14. de novo
    from the beginning
  15. derivative
    a compound obtained from, or regarded as derived from, another compound
  16. disputative
    inclined or showing an inclination to dispute or disagree, even to engage in law suits
  17. distributer
    someone who markets merchandise
  18. distributor
    a person with authority to allot or deal out or apportion
  19. doubt
    the state of being unsure of something
  20. estate
    extensive landed property (especially in the country) retained by the owner for his own use
  21. extortion
    unjust exaction (as by the misuse of authority)
  22. fiduciary
    relating to or of the nature of a legal trust (i.e. the holding of something in trust for another)
  23. franchise
    a statutory right or privilege granted to a person or group by a government (especially the rights of citizenship and the right to vote)
  24. garnish
    decorate (food), as with parsley or other ornamental foods
  25. garnishment
    a court order to an employer to withhold all or part of an employee's wages and to send the money to the court or to the person who won a lawsuit against the employee
  26. grantee
    a recipient of a grant
  27. grantor
    a person who makes a grant in legal form
  28. infra
    (in writing) see below
  29. infra
    (in writing) see below
  30. intra vires
    within the legal power or authority or a person or official or body etc
  31. joint
    junction by which parts or objects are joined together
  32. lien
    the right to take another's property if an obligation is not discharged
  33. quasi
    having some resemblance
  34. reasonable
    showing reason or sound judgment
  35. respondent
    replying
  36. revocation
    the act (by someone having the authority) of annulling something previously done
  37. statutory
    relating to or created by statutes
  38. statutory law
    the body of laws created by legislative statutes
  39. subpoena
    a writ issued by court authority to compel the attendance of a witness at a judicial proceeding; disobedience may be punishable as a contempt of court
  40. supra
    at an earlier place
  41. trustee
    a person (or institution) to whom legal title to property is entrusted to use for another's benefit
  42. ultra
    (used of opinions and actions) far beyond the norm
  43. ultra vires
    beyond the legal power or authority of a person or official or body etc
  44. unilateral
    involving only one part or side
  45. vegetative
    composed of vegetation or plants