Legal Language

1. abnegation: giving up of rights; self-denial.

2. abscond: to run away and hide in order to escape the law.

3. affidavit: a written statement made on oath, usually before a notary public. In Medieval Latin, the verb affidare meant “he has made an oath.”

4. altercation: a quarrel; an angry or heated dispute. Other synonyms are spat and squabble. Wrangle suggests a noisy dispute.

5. battery: a pounding; illegal beating. A person who commits assault and battery inflicts physical harm upon a victim; an emplacement for artillery; an array of similar things to use together, as “a battery or achievement tests”; baseball term for the pitcher and catcher; in electricity, a cell or cells that produce an electric current.

6. bequest: something given by inheritance; a gift specified in a will. In Middle English, bicewste meant “a saying”

7. cause celebre: a celebrated law case, trial, or controversy

8. caveat emptor: let the buyer beware, one buys at his own risk. The implication is that the vendor is trying to sell inferior merchandise.

9. codicil: an addition to a will; an appendix or supplement. The Latin word codex means “tree trunk” or a “wooden tablet covered with wax for writing.”

10. contiguous: adjacent; touching.

11. contraband: goods forbidden by law to be exported. This word was first used in the sixteenth century to refer to illicit trade with Spanish colonies.

12. contumacious: insubordinate; disobedient. Its original Latin meaning was “to swell up.”

13. disenfranchise: to deprive of the rights of citizenship; to deprive of a privilege. This word is sometimes written as disfranchise.

14. injunction: a command or order; a court order stopping a person or group from carrying out a given action.

15. jurisprudence: the science or philosophy of law; a system of laws.

Exercises

I. Which Word Comes to Mind?
In each of the following, read the statement, then circle the word that comes to mind.

1. When the financier could not be found, the scandal came to light.
(injunction, codicil, abscond)
2. A soldier is absent without leave
(contumacious, jurisprudence, disenfranchise)
3. The plight of the whales attracts world-wide attention
(cause celebre, caveat emptor, abnegation)
4. Hidden weapons are discovered by the airport’s X-ray machine.
(contraband, contiguous, altercation)
5. Relatives gather to hear the reading of the will
(batter, affidavit, bequest)
6. Heavy artillery trained on the enemy
(altercation, battery, contraband)
7. A notarized statements
(bequest, injunction, affidavit)
8. Swore off smoking
(codicil, abnegation, disenfranchised)
9. What the law requires
(jurisprudence, cause celebre, affidavit)
10. Smuggles goods
(abscond, contraband, caveat emptor)

II. True or False?
In the space provided, indicate whether each statement is true or false.

____ 1. When a dog displays its contumacious spirit, obedience training is often prescribed.
____ 2. Merchants follow the policy of caveat emptor when competition is fierce.
____ 3. Out houses are contiguous, and I wish we were closer together
____ 4. An important codicil is like the tail that wagged the dog
____ 5. Following the altercation on the field, both players were ejected
____ 6. contiguous lines are necessarily parallel.
____ 7. A battery is a weapon used by the Romans to shatter protection walls.
____ 8. A thief might abscond to avoid prosecution
____ 9. An altercation is similar to a fracas
____ 10. A cause celebre is a reason for celebration

III. Fill in the Blank
Insert one of the new words in the proper space in each sentence below

1. The ___________________ specified that the heir marry within the faith
2. In discovering that the watch he had bought from the street vendor had no mechanism. Fred learned the significance of __________________.
3. Some people live by whim and fancy, others by a rigorous __________________.
4. The charlatan’s modus operandi was simple; ingratiate yourself with a rich widow, many her, then _______________ with the money.
5. To stop the flow of microchip technology out of the country, the government declared them _____________________.
6. The __________________ For the crucial game was changed at the last minute
7. Ted wished he had remembered the warning ______________________, when he was offered the 80 percent discount for the “diamond” ring that turned out to be fake.
8. Pfc. Barton lost his one stripe when his _________________ behavior was discovered.
9. The defense lawyer argued it was wrong to ____________________ his client because he had not renounced his former citizenship.
10. The judge threatened to issue a(n) __________________ if the proposed strike plans were not withdrawn.

IV. What’s the Antonyms?
Which of the new words is most nearly opposite in meaning to the one provided?

1. compliant ______________________
2. reconciliation ______________________
3. permit ______________________
4. self-indulgence ______________________
5. empower ______________________
6. distant ______________________
7. legal trade ______________________
8. an insignificant case ______________________
9. money or property earned by one’s labor ______________________
10. main section of a will ______________________

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