Master Legal English Vocabulary: 185 Flashcards on Latin Maxims, Doublets and Legalese
Study 185 real flashcards from deck UK4519: Latin maxims, legal doublets, hereof/thereof adverbs, contract, property and litigation terms, plus two study tips.
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Legal English is a separate register with its own Latin, its own Anglo-Norman French leftovers and its own grammar. Deck UK4519 – Legal English Vocabulary on Flip It packs 185 flashcards that cover exactly that register: the terms of art, the Latin maxims, the word doublets and the hereof/thereof/whereof family that makes legal documents look the way they do.
Study this deck: Legal English Vocabulary
1 / 10Legalese
Tap the card for the answer · swipe right if you knew it, left if not
Sample cards from UK4519
| Front | Back |
|---|---|
| promissory estoppel | A legal principle that prevents a party from going back on a promise when another party has relied on that promise to their detriment |
| consideration | An act, forbearance, or promise by one party that constitutes the price for which the promise of the other party is bought |
| ultra vires | Beyond the powers; an act performed without legal authority |
| de facto | In fact or in practice, whether by right or not (as opposed to de jure) |
| Legal doublet | A pair of words from different languages used together to convey a single legal concept (e.g., ‘null and void’, ‘breaking and entering’) |
| hereinafter | Later in this document |
| Why did medieval lawyers use word doublets? | To avoid ambiguity when using a mixture of Latin, French, and English, ensuring all lawyers understood |
| in camera | In private; in a judge’s chambers rather than in open court |
| adverse possession | The legal concept whereby a person can gain ownership of property by occupying it continuously |
| stare decisis | The legal principle of determining points in litigation according to precedent; to stand by things decided |
What the 185 cards cover
- The history of legalese: Law French, Medieval Latin, Celtic law, register in linguistics, pro-forms (the said, the same), unusual legal word order, the dramatic effect of archaic language, and the medieval reason for doublets.
- Latin maxims and phrases: ad hoc, de facto, de jure, bona fide, inter alia, ultra vires, habeas corpus, in camera, stare decisis, pursuant to.
- Doublets and triplets: null and void, fit and proper, cease and desist, will and testament, breaking and entering, terms and conditions, let and hindrance.
- Archaic adverbs: hereof, thereof, whereof, herein, therein, therefrom, hereinafter, heretofore, whereupon, forthwith, aforementioned.
- Contract law: consideration, promissory estoppel, waiver, restraint of trade, restrictive covenant, specific performance, enter into, serve upon, write off, attend at.
- Property and succession: chattel, estate, executor, intestate, trustee, grantee, title, mortgage, lease, lessor/lessee, quitclaim deed, redemption, adverse possession.
- Litigation and courts: plaintiff, appellant, subpoena, deposition, motion, damages, contempt of court, precedent, dissent, appeal, mediation, jurisprudence.
- Torts and crime: negligence, conversion, defamation, malice, beyond reasonable doubt, double jeopardy, acquittal, parole.
Two study tips that work for this deck
Split the deck by language of origin. The cards fall into three visible families: Latin (bona fide, ultra vires), French-derived nouns (chattel, lessee, estoppel, tort) and Old English compounds (hereof, whereupon). Once you notice that estoppel comes from the French estouper (to stop up), the definition stops being arbitrary. Sort your first review session along these three lines and the etymology becomes a memory hook.
Decode the here/there/where prefix, not the whole word. The deck has more than ten cards in this family, and they all follow one rule: here- = this document, there- = the thing just mentioned, where- = which. So therefrom is ‘from that’ and whereof is ‘of which’. Learn the three prefixes once, then every card in the group answers itself.
How to use it
Log in to Flip It, search for deck code UK4519, and let spaced repetition handle the Latin. Start with the contract and litigation cards if you work with agreements or filings; keep the history cards for the end of a session.
If you are working through law vocabulary more broadly, the criminal law concepts study guide pairs well with this deck.
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