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 In property law, the term free and clear refers to ownership without legal encumbrances, such as a lien or mortgage. For example: a person owns a house free and clear if he has paid off the mortgage and no creditor has filed a lien against it. Late ...

'' 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 Romance may refer to: Common meanings * Romance (love), emotional attraction towards another person and the courtship behaviors undertaken to express the feelings ** Romantic orientation, the classification of the sex or gender with which a pers ...

-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 Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of Roman civilization *Epistle to the Romans, shortened to Romans, a letter w ...

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

pleonasm Pleonasm (; , ) is redundancy in linguistic expression, such as "black darkness", "burning fire", "the man he said", or "vibrating with motion". It is a manifestation of tautology by traditional rhetorical criteria. Pleonasm may also be used f ...

s 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 A ways and means committee is a government body that is charged with reviewing and making recommendations for government budgets. Because the raising of revenue is vital to carrying out governmental operations, such a committee is tasked with fi ...

'', 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 Butts and bounds, shortened form for "abuttals and boundaries" of a property, are the boundary lines delineated between plots of land, usually those which define the end of an estate, as used in legal deeds, titles, etc. These are usually descrip ...

accord and satisfaction Accord and satisfaction is a contract law concept about the purchase of the release from a debt obligation. It is one of the methods by which parties to a contract may terminate their agreement. The release is completed by the transfer of valuable ...

* acknowledge and confess *

aid and abet Aiding and abetting is a legal doctrine related to the guilt of someone who aids or abets (encourages, incites) another person in the commission of a crime (or in another's suicide). It exists in a number of different countries and generally al ...

* all and sundry * alter or change * amity and commerce * appropriate and proper *

arbitrary and capricious In law, the standard of review is the amount of deference given by one court (or some other appellate tribunal) in reviewing a decision of a lower court or tribunal. A low standard of review means that the decision under review will be varied or o ...

art and part Art and part is a term used in Scots law to denote the aiding or abetting in the perpetration of a crime, or being an accessory before or at the perpetration of the crime. It results in each person involved in the crime being equally liable f ...

* as and when * assault and battery * bind and obligate *

breaking and entering Burglary, also called breaking and entering (B&E) or housebreaking, is a property crime involving the illegal entry into a building or other area without permission, typically with the intention of committing a further criminal offence. Usually ...

butts and bounds Butts and bounds, shortened form for "abuttals and boundaries" of a property, are the boundary lines delineated between plots of land, usually those which define the end of an estate, as used in legal deeds, titles, etc. These are usually descrip ...

* 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 *

* from now and henceforth * full faith and credit * furnish and supply * goods and chattels * have and hold * heirs and successors *

high crimes and misdemeanors The charge of high crimes and misdemeanors covers allegations of misconduct by officials. Offenses by officials also include ordinary crimes, but perhaps with different standards of proof and punishment than for non-officials, on the grounds th ...

hue and cry In common law, a hue and cry is a process by which bystanders are summoned to assist in the apprehension of a criminal who has been witnessed in the act of committing a crime. History By the Statute of Winchester of 1285, 13 Edw. 1. St. 2. c. ...

* indemnify and hold harmless *

infangthief and outfangthief Infangthief and outfangthief were privileges granted to feudal lords (and various corporate bodies such as abbeys and cities) under Anglo-Saxon law by the kings of England. They permitted their bearers to execute summary justice (including capital ...

* 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 A letter of marque and reprisal () was a government license in the Age of Sail that authorized a private person, known as a privateer or corsair, to attack and capture vessels of a foreign state at war with the issuer, licensing internationa ...

metes and bounds Metes and bounds is a system or method of describing land, real property (in contrast to personal property) or real estate. The system has been used in England for many centuries and is still used there in the definition of general boundaries. ...

* mind and memory *

null and void In law, void means of no legal effect. An action, document, or transaction which is void is of no legal effect whatsoever: an absolute nullity—the law treats it as if it had never existed or happened. The term void ''ab initio'', which means " ...

* 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 __NOTOC__ The term ''soke'' (; in Old English: ', connected ultimately with ', "to seek"), at the time of the Norman conquest of England, generally denoted "jurisdiction", but its vague usage makes it lack a single, precise definition. Anglo-Saxo ...

* 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 Toll and team (also spelled ''thol and theam'') were related privileges granted by the Crown to landowners under Anglo-Saxon and Anglo-Norman law. First known from a charter of around 1023, the privileges usually appeared as part of a standard for ...

* true and correct * use and wont *

waif and stray Waif and stray was a legal privilege commonly granted by the Crown to landowners under Anglo-Norman law. It usually appeared as part of a standard formula in charters granting privileges to estate-holders, along the lines of "with sac and soc, tol ...

* 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