Legal doublet (original) (raw)
A legal doublet is a standardized phrase used frequently in English legal language consisting of two or more words that are irreversible binomials and frequently synonyms, usually connected by "and", such as "null and void". The order of the words cannot be reversed, as it would be particularly unusual to ask someone to desist and cease or to have property owned clear and free; these common legal phrases are universally known as cease and desist and free and clear. Their habitual use has been decried by some legal scholars as superfluous in modern legal briefs.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| dbo:abstract | A legal doublet is a standardized phrase used frequently in English legal language consisting of two or more words that are irreversible binomials and frequently synonyms, usually connected by "and", such as "null and void". The order of the words cannot be reversed, as it would be particularly unusual to ask someone to desist and cease or to have property owned clear and free; these common legal phrases are universally known as cease and desist and free and clear. The doubling—and sometimes even tripling—often originates in the transition from use of one language for legal purposes to another: in Britain, from a native English term to a Latin or Law French term; in Romance-speaking countries, from Latin to the vernacular. To ensure understanding, the terms from both languages were used. This reflected the interactions between Germanic and Roman law following the decline of the Roman Empire. These phrases are often pleonasms and form irreversible binomials. In other cases the two components have differences which are subtle, appreciable only to lawyers, or obsolete. For example, ways and means, referring to methods and resources respectively, are differentiable, in the same way that tools and materials, or equipment and funds, are differentiable—but the difference between them is often practically irrelevant to the contexts in which the irreversible binomial ways and means is used today in non-legal contexts as a mere cliché. Doublets may also have arisen or persisted because the solicitors and clerks who drew up conveyances and other documents were paid by the word, which tended to encourage verbosity. Their habitual use has been decried by some legal scholars as superfluous in modern legal briefs. (en) |
| dbo:wikiPageID | 19088173 (xsd:integer) |
| dbo:wikiPageLength | 7476 (xsd:nonNegativeInteger) |
| dbo:wikiPageRevisionID | 1123346210 (xsd:integer) |
| dbo:wikiPageWikiLink | dbr:Roman_Empire dbr:Romance_languages dbr:Merism dbr:Metes_and_bounds dbr:Sac_and_soc dbr:Hue_and_cry dbr:Infangthief_and_outfangthief dbr:Conveyancing dbr:Waif_and_stray dbr:Legal_English dbr:Cliché dbr:Hendiadys dbr:Phrase dbr:Synonym dbr:Will_and_testament dbr:Irreversible_binomial dbr:Cease_and_desist dbr:High_crimes_and_misdemeanors dbr:Toll_and_team dbc:Legal_terminology dbr:Accord_and_satisfaction dbr:Latin_language dbr:Law_French dbr:Law_and_order_(politics) dbr:Art_and_part dbc:Legal_writing dbr:Pleonasm dbr:Free_and_clear dbr:Terms_and_conditions dbr:Breaking_and_entering dbr:Ways_and_means_committee dbr:Roman_law dbr:Legal_language dbr:Germanic_Law dbr:Marque_and_reprisal dbr:Aid_and_abet dbr:Null_and_void |
| dbp:wikiPageUsesTemplate | dbt:Div_col dbt:Div_col_end dbt:Reflist dbt:Wtc |
| dcterms:subject | dbc:Legal_terminology dbc:Legal_writing |
| gold:hypernym | dbr:Phrase |
| rdf:type | dbo:Person |
| rdfs:comment | A legal doublet is a standardized phrase used frequently in English legal language consisting of two or more words that are irreversible binomials and frequently synonyms, usually connected by "and", such as "null and void". The order of the words cannot be reversed, as it would be particularly unusual to ask someone to desist and cease or to have property owned clear and free; these common legal phrases are universally known as cease and desist and free and clear. Their habitual use has been decried by some legal scholars as superfluous in modern legal briefs. (en) |
| rdfs:label | Legal doublet (en) |
| owl:sameAs | freebase:Legal doublet wikidata:Legal doublet dbpedia-th:Legal doublet https://global.dbpedia.org/id/4qDN8 |
| prov:wasDerivedFrom | wikipedia-en:Legal_doublet?oldid=1123346210&ns=0 |
| foaf:isPrimaryTopicOf | wikipedia-en:Legal_doublet |
| is dbo:wikiPageRedirects of | dbr:Legal_triplet dbr:Way,_shape,_or_form dbr:Way,_shape_or_form |
| is dbo:wikiPageWikiLink of | dbr:Hue_and_cry dbr:Void_(law) dbr:Legal_English dbr:Will_and_testament dbr:Irreversible_binomial dbr:Cease_and_desist dbr:Legal_writing dbr:Art_and_part dbr:Pleonasm dbr:Free_and_clear dbr:Legal_triplet dbr:Way,_shape,_or_form dbr:Way,_shape_or_form |
| is rdfs:seeAlso of | dbr:Merism |
| is foaf:primaryTopic of | wikipedia-en:Legal_doublet |