Legal Terminology

law

Pay and plead describes an arrangement in which a defendant, often a corporation or public official, agrees to pay fines, restitution, or related penalties while not admitting g...

law-and-legal

Capitis is a Latin term meaning "of the head" or "capital" and most commonly appears in legal and historical contexts. In law, it signals a penalty measured in a person’s head...

law

When a court says a judgment is affirmed, it means a higher court reviewed the lower court’s decision and chose to uphold it unchanged. The affirmed judgment remains in force...

Language & Usage

The prefix cede comes from Latin cedere , meaning “to go” or “to yield”. In English, cede is used as a prefix to signal the transfer of something, often formally or by a...

language-and-usage

Something described as contemptible is regarded as deserving contempt, scorn, or strong moral disapproval. The term typically appears in ethical, legal, and rhetorical contexts,...

law

At its core, a repeal is the formal, typically legislative, act of revoking or annulling a prior law or part of a law, rendering it null and void from the date of repeal or a sp...

Evergreen Reference

Coram is a Latin term meaning "in the presence of" and is used in legal English to indicate that a judge or authority is acting while presiding over a matter. In everyday usage,...

language-and-usage

At its simplest, to steal is to take something without permission and without intending to return it. This core idea appears in many professional, legal, and everyday contexts,...

legal terminology

To be acquitted means a court of law has found a defendant not guilty of the charged offense after a full trial or, in some cases, after a plea. An acquittal results in immediat...

law

A plaintiff is a person or entity that brings a legal complaint, seeking a remedy such as money, specific actions, or injunctive relief. This overview explains how plaintiffs fu...