A legal doublet is a standardized

phrase In grammar, a phrasecalled expression in some contextsis a group of words or singular word acting as a grammatical unit. For instance, the English language, English expression "the very happy squirrel" is a noun phrase which contains the adject ...

used frequently in English legal language consisting of two or more words that are

irreversible binomial In linguistics and stylistics, an irreversible binomial, frozen binomial, binomial freeze, binomial expression, binomial pair, or nonreversible word pair is a pair of words used together in fixed order as an idiomatic expression or collocation. T ...

s and frequently

synonym A synonym is a word, morpheme, or phrase that means precisely or nearly the same as another word, morpheme, or phrase in a given language. For example, in the English language, the words ''begin'', ''start'', ''commence'', and ''initiate'' are a ...

s, usually connected by ''and'', such as ''

cease and desist A cease and desist letter is a document sent by one party, often a business, to warn another party that they believe the other party is committing an unlawful act, such as copyright infringement, and that they will take legal action if the oth ...

''. The order of the words cannot be reversed, as it would be seen as particularly unusual to ask someone to ''desist and cease'' or to have property owned ''clear and free'' rather than the standard '' free and clear'' term. The doubling—and sometimes even tripling—often originates in the transition from use of one language for legal purposes to another. Situations include in Britain, where a native English term is joined to a

Latin Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...

Law French Law French () is an archaic language originally based on Anglo-Norman, but increasingly influenced by Parisian French and, later, English. It was used in the law courts of England from the 13th century. Its use continued for several centur ...

term, and in Romance-speaking countries, where a

term is joined to the vernacular. To ensure understanding, the terms from both languages were retained and used together. This reflected the interactions between Germanic and Roman law following the decline of the

Roman Empire The Roman Empire ruled the Mediterranean and much of Europe, Western Asia and North Africa. The Roman people, Romans conquered most of this during the Roman Republic, Republic, and it was ruled by emperors following Octavian's assumption of ...

. These phrases are often pleonasms and form

s. 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 A cliché ( or ; ) is a saying, idea, or element of an artistic work that has become overused to the point of losing its original meaning, novelty, or literal and figurative language, figurative or artistic power, even to the point of now being b ...

. 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 "redundant" and "superfluous" in modern legal briefs.

List of common legal doublets

* abuttals and boundaries * accord and satisfaction * acknowledge and confess * aid and abet * all and sundry * alter or change * amity and commerce * appropriate and proper * arbitrary and capricious * art and part * as and when * assault and battery * bind and obligate * breaking and entering * butts and bounds * by and between * care and attention *

* covenant and agree * deem and consider * demise and lease * depose and say * drunk and disorderly * due and payable * expressed or implied * facts and circumstances * final and conclusive * fit and proper * for all intents and purposes * for and on behalf of * foul and abusive language * free and clear * from now and henceforth * full faith and credit * furnish and supply * goods and chattels * have and hold * heirs and successors * high crimes and misdemeanors * hue and cry * indemnify and hold harmless * infangthief and outfangthief * joint and several * keep and perform * kind and nature * law and order * legal and valid * let or hindrance * lewd and lascivious conduct * liens and encumbrances * make and enter into * marque and reprisal * metes and bounds * mind and memory * null and void * over and above *

oyer and terminer In English law, oyer and terminer (; a partial translation of the Anglo-French , which literally means 'to hear and to determine') was one of the commissions by which a judge of assize sat. Apart from its Law French name, the commission was also ...

* pains and penalties * part and parcel * perform and discharge * plain and ordinary * power and authority * sac and soc * sale or transfer * signed and sealedWord Pairs
/ref> * sole and exclusive * successors and assigns *

terms and conditions A contractual term is "any provision forming part of a contract". Each term gives rise to a contractual obligation, the breach of which may give rise to litigation. Not all terms are stated expressly and some terms carry less legal gravity as ...

* then and in that event * toll and team * true and correct * use and wont * waif and stray * ways and means * wear and tear *

will and testament A will and testament is a legal document that expresses a person's (testator) wishes as to how their property (estate (law), estate) is to be distributed after their death and as to which person (executor) is to manage the property until its fi ...

List of common legal triplets

* arbitrary, capricious and unreasonable * cancel, annul and set aside * convey, transfer and set over * give, devise and bequeath * grant, bargain and sell * name, constitute and appoint * null, void and of no effect * tamper with, damage, or destroy * ordered, adjudged and decreed * peace, amity and commerce * remise, release and forever quit claim * rest, residue and remainder * right, title and interest * signed, sealed and delivered * to all intents, constructions and purposes20 Embarrassing Phrases Even Smart People Misuse
Christina DesMarais, 13 Mar 2015, Inc.com. * way, shape or form

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Legal Doublet Legal terminology Legal writing

List of common legal doublets

List of common legal triplets

See also

References