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Law
Dictionaries, Encyclopedias, and Thesauri
General Works
The main sources of information about legal terms and concepts.- Ballentine’s Law Dictionary
KF156 .B3 1969 Located in Willis Library, Third Floor - Somewhat dated, but useful for looking up Latin, French, and Saxon words and phrases.
- Black’s Law Dictionary
KF156 .B53 Located at Government Documents Service Desk in Willis Library - The most extensive legal dictionary commonly available. The seventh edition has the most clear and up-to-date definitions, but the previous editions provide references to court cases the definitions were derived from, a feature that was dropped in the seventh edition.
- A Dictionary of Modern Legal Usage,
by Bryan A. Garner
KF156 .G367 1987 Located in Willis Library, Third Floor - Goes beyond defining terms by distinguishing fine points, giving advice on how to use terms correctly, and outlining how a term has been used through history.
- Duhaime’s Law Dictionary (Lloyd Duhaime)
- Legal terms explained in plain language by a Canadian lawyer, arranged alphabetically with extensive cross-links.
- Glossary of Legal Terms (LexisNexis)
- Search or browse a list of legal terms based on Merriam-Webster’s Dictionary of Law (©2001).
- Law Dictionary (law.com)
- Browse an alphabetical list or search terms and definitions by keyword.
- Law Dictionary (LawyerInt.com)
- Online dictionary based primarily on the 1856 edition of Bouvier’s A Law Dictionary, which is a classic and scholarly reference work, but rather out of date now. You can Ask for a Legal Term if you need a definition but can’t find one. The editors will find the definition and add it to the dictionary. You can also Submit a Legal Term if you know a term and its definition and want it added to the dictionary. The editors will check your definition and add it.
- Law Dictionary, by Steven
H. Gifis
KF156 .G53 1991 Located at Government Documents Service Desk - Easy-to-understand definitions of the most common legal terms, with references to defining cases. Useful for students.
- Legal Dictionary (FindLaw)
- Enter a law-related term to search this database.
- Legal Lexicon ('Lectric Law Library)
- Definitions and explanations of thousands of legal terms, phrases, and concepts, arranged in alphabetical order.
- Legal Thesaurus, by William
C. Burton
Located at Government Documents Service Desk under Call Number KF156 .B856 1992 - Provides synonyms and definitions for legal terms, an overview of federal “plain language” requirements, and associated legal concepts. This work is useful for distinguishing fine shades of meaning or for finding alternative terms or concepts to use in indexes and databases.
- List of Legal Topics (Wikipedia)
- A linked list of all Wikipedia articles on the subject of law, arranged alphabetically by title.
- Subject Term Index (Global Legal Information Network)
- This is a searchable database of authorized terms used to index subjects used in GLIN, a full-text database of official legal documents contributed by government agencies and international organizations. It is an example of a controlled vocabulary.
- Oran’s Dictionary of the Law (3rd edition), by Daniel Oran; Mark Tosti, contributing author
netLibrary edition available online to the UNT Community - Provides concise, up-to-date definitions suitable for a broad audience. Includes a list of 50 basic words used in the law, a brief guide to legal research, and illustrations and diagrams of selected concepts such as government organization, sources of the law, the National Reporter system, and the Statsky cartwheel system of generating a list of keywords for research.
- Thesauri (Best of the Web)
- Thesauri (Best of the Web)
- General list of online thesauri, not necessarily related to the law.
- West’s Legal
Thesaurus/Dictionary, by William P. Statsky
KF156 .S7 1985 Located at Government Documents Service Desk - This book offers synonyms, antonyms, and pronunciation guides for legal words and terms. It also explains how to use the terms in a sentence.
- Wex (Legal Information Institute at Cornell Law School)
- A collaboratively-edited legal dictionary and encyclopedia (using wiki software), designed to meet the needs of law novices. Articles are written from a perspective of United States law, but include information on international and comparative law. Much of the material that appears in Wex was originally developed for the Legal Information Institute’s “Law about...” pages, which Wex has replaced.
- Words and Phrases
KF156 .W6 Located in Willis Library, Third Floor - This multivolume set, updated by pocket parts, cites federal and state court cases that have defined and re-defined legal terms at various times and within various legal contexts.
U.S. Law
Lists and definitions of terms and concepts related to the United States legal system.
Encyclopedias
- American Jurisprudence
KF90 .A4; Located in Willis Library, Third Floor - Systematic outline of legal doctrine, with citations to relevant case law. UNT copy is no longer being updated.
- Corpus Juris Secundum
Call Number KF90 .C6; Located in Willis Library, Third Floor - Systematic outline of legal doctrine, with citations to relevant case law; somewhat dated, and not as clear as American Jurisprudence.
- West’s Encyclopedia of American Law, 2nd
Edition
Call Number KF154 .W47 2005; Located in Government Documents Reference - Articles on a wide range of topics, explained for a general audience.
- American Justice
Call Number KF154 .A44 1996; Located in Willis Library General Reference - Primarily articles on contemporary social issues.
Dictionaries
- Congressional Glossary (C-SPAN)
- Browse a list of hundreds of terms arranged in a compact tabular format.
CongressLink Glossary (The Dirksen Congressional Center)- Definitions and brief explanations of terms related to Congress and to the United States Constitution.
Senate: Glossary (U.S. Senate)- Select from a list of Senate terms dealing with conference committees, presidential action, laws, legislation, the federal budget, Senate documents, Senate committees, Senate leadership, offices, and party organizations, sessions, and adjournments.
House: Parliamentary Terms and Definitions (U.S. House of Representatives)- Includes a pocket guide to floor procedures in the House, an abridged dictionary of parliamentary terms, and a glossary of terms used in the federal budget process.
- Glossary of Terms (U.S. Federal Judiciary)
- Brief list of terms related to U.S. court system.
Thesauri
- Legislative Indexing Vocabulary (Library of Congress)
Available in Documents Reference under Call Number LC 14.2 : L 52 - Thesaurus of authorized terms developed by the Congressional Research Service to classify legislative and public policy materials. It is used for searching subjects in the THOMAS Bill Summary & Status files and the Library of Congress Information System (LOCIS) Federal Legislation files.
Texas Law
Lists and definitions of terms and concepts related to the law of Texas.- Texas Jurisprudence
Call Number KFT1241 .T4; Located in Willis Library, Third Floor
CD-ROM version available at Government Documents Service Desk - Systematic outline of Texas law with citations to relevant Texas statutes and cases.
- Guide to Texas Legislative Information—Glossary (Texas Legislature Online)
- Brief definitions of terms associated with the legislative process.
Foreign and International Law
Lists and definitions of terms and concepts related to the laws of other countries and intergovernmental organizations.- Glossary of Conflict of Laws (William Tetley, Q.C.)
- Definitions of words and phrases used in discussing conflicts between laws of different nations.
- International Law Dictionary and Directory (Ray August)
- Definitions of words and phrases used in private and public international law, with linked cross-references to related words and phrases. Browsable by first letter of a term. [Defunct site—connection is to Internet Archive]
Topics
Lists and definitions of terms and concepts related to specific subject areas and legal practice areas.Business Law
- Bernstein's Dictionary of Bankruptcy Terminology (Bernstein Law Firm, P.C.)
- Definitions and brief explanations of the most commonly used bankruptcy terms.
- Glossary of Antitrust Terms (Antitrust Law & Economics Review, Inc.)
- Definitions and brief discussions of terms related to laws designed to combat monopolies ("trusts") and other devices to suppress competition.
- International Commercial Law Glossary (UniServe Law)
- Explanations of acronyms and a few other terms related to international commerce. [Defunct site—connection is to Internet Archive]
Civil Law
- Legal Definitions (Bailey Law Firm)
- Brief glossary of terms related to civil law, browsable by letter of the alphabet.
Communications Law
- All About the Internet: Glossaries (Internet Society)
- Technical terms, legal terms, and
acronyms related to the Internet.
Criminal Law
- A Prisoner’s Dictionary (The Prison Law Page)
- Definitions of slang terms, code words, and jargon used by prisoners. Focus is on California prisons, but includes some terms used in other states.
Environmental Law
- Legal Terms Frequently Used in Environmental Litigation (University of California, Davis)
- Explanations of selected terms that tend to be troublesome for students coming to environmental law for the first time..
- Terms of Environment (EPS)
- Definitions in unofficial, non-technical language of the more commonly used environmental terms that appear in EPA publications, news releases, and other agency documents.
Family Law
- Adoption Gossary (American Adoptions, Inc.)
- Definitions of terms related to domestic adoption.
- Tao of Divorce A - Z (Annotated Divorce Law Dictionary) (Divorce Net)
- Definitions and explanations of legal terms that participants in a divorce proceeding should know.
Intellectual Property Law (Patents, Trademarks, and Copyright)
- Trademark Law Glossary (MarkLaw)
- Browsable definitions and explanations of terms related to creating and protecting trademarks.
Maritime Law (Law of the Sea)
- Glossary of Maritime Law Terms (William Tetley, Q.C.)
- Definitions of terms used in the law of the sea, with many links to relevant court cases.
Medical Law
- Glossary of Terms (The Neurotrauma Law Nexus)
- Definitions of medical terms associated with brain or spinal cord injury.
- Law Glossary (Head Injury Hotline)
- Simple definitions of law terms commonly used in injury claims and their resulting judicial proceedings.
Historical Works
These lists and definitions of legal terms were published many years ago but are still valuable for historical research.
- Bouvier’s Law Dictionary (Constitution Society)
- A classic, scholary reference work from 1856. The full title is A Law Dictionary: Adapted to the Constitution and Laws of the United States of America, and of the Several States of the American Union; with References to the Civil and Other Systems of Foreign Law. This classic work was created by the American jurist John Bouvier to define legal terminology within a specifically American context, independent of the English legal system. It is now out of date in many respects, but contains many encyclopedic explanations of legal terms and is still useful for historical research.
- A Dictionary of Law, 1893: A Dictionary and Compendium of American and English Jurisprudence (Lawgiver.Org)
- Key British and American definitions of terms used and based in common law prior to 1900. Excerpted from a classic work originally compiled and written by William C. Anderson and published by T. H. Flood and Company in Chicago, 1893. The original edition of this work served in some respects as a model for Black’s Law Dictionary.
- Words and Phrases
KF156 .W6 Located in Willis Library, Third Floor - This multivolume set, updated by pocket parts, cites federal and state court cases that have defined and re-defined legal terms at various times and within various legal contexts.
