Terms beginning with F
1,349 headwords
- FThe first series of the Federal Reporter, covering federal trial and appellate decisions from 1880 to 1924. The lette…
- F reorganizationA reorganization amounting to no more than a change in a company's identity, form, or place of organization.
- F.2dThe second series of the Federal Reporter, covering federal appellate decisions from 1924 to 1993.
- F.3dThe third series of the Federal Reporter, covering federal appellate decisions from 1993 onward.
- F.A.S.A trade term meaning that the seller must deliver the goods to the dock and pay the cost of getting them there. Once…
- F.R.D.Federal Rules Decisions, a series of reported federal decisions from 1938 onward interpreting or applying the Federal…
- F.Supp.The Federal Supplement, a series of reported decisions of the federal district courts from 1932 to 1998, of the U.S.…
- F.Supp.2dThe second series of the Federal Supplement, covering decisions of the federal district courts and the Court of Inter…
- FAAThe federal agency responsible for regulating air commerce, improving aviation safety, promoting civil aviation and a…
- fabric landLand given to maintain, repair, or rebuild a cathedral or other church. The name comes from funds given to repair the…
- fabricareTo make a coin, whether lawfully or not; also, to forge something, especially a bill of lading. The word appeared in…
- fabricateTo invent or devise something falsely. To fabricate a story is to put together a plausible account of events that sui…
- fabricated evidenceFalse evidence unlawfully created, usually after the event, in an attempt to escape liability or conviction.
- fabricated factA false statement of fact unlawfully created, usually after the event, in an attempt to escape liability or conviction.
- fabulaA contract or covenant, especially a marriage contract.
- FACFailure to answer a traffic citation. In some places, if a person does not respond to a ticket, the court notifies th…
- faceThe front or outer surface of something; by extension, the apparent or explicit part of a writing, or the inscribed s…
- face amountThe value shown on the front of an instrument or security, such as the nominal amount assigned to a share by the corp…
- face amount insured by the policyThe amount an insurance policy states on its face as payable.
- face of policyThe amount an insurance policy states on its face as payable.
- face rateThe interest rate stated in a loan agreement or on a bond, with no adjustment for inflation.
- face valueThe value shown on the front of an instrument or security, such as the nominal amount assigned to a share by the corp…
- face-amount certificateA certificate or investment contract under which the issuer promises to pay a stated or calculable sum on a date more…
- face-amount certificate companyAn investment company whose business is issuing face-amount certificates of the installment type, or which has done s…
- facialApparent on the face of things.
- facial attackA challenge to whether a complaint says enough, such as a motion to dismiss in federal practice.
- facial challengeA claim that a statute is unconstitutional on its face, that is, in every application rather than only as applied to…
- facially sufficientOf a document, appearing valid on its face. A search-warrant affidavit that looks sufficient can still be attacked if…
- facially voidVoid on the face of the document itself, without needing to look further.
- faciasThat you cause: words used for emphasis in writs, as in the phrase so that you do.
- faciesThe outward appearance or surface of something.
- facilitateTo make the commission of a crime easier. Property such as a vehicle or house that does so may be forfeited.
- facilitationThe helping of another; in criminal law, the making it easier for another person to commit a crime.
- facility-of-payment clauseA clause in an insurance policy allowing someone to be named to receive payment from the insurer on the beneficiary's…
- facio ut faciasI do that you may do: a contract in which each party's consideration is an act to be performed for the other.
- facsimile signatureA signature reproduced by mechanical or photographic means; also, a signature on a document sent by fax.
- facsimile transmissionThe sending of an exact copy of a printed page over telephone lines; also, the machine used to do it, or the message…
- factSomething that actually exists; an event or circumstance, as distinct from its legal effect or interpretation.
- fact in evidenceA fact the tribunal takes into account in reaching its conclusion; a fact admitted into evidence at a trial or hearing.
- fact in issueA fact that one party alleges and the other denies, so that the fact-finder must decide it.
- fact material to riskIn insurance law, a fact that may increase the risk and that, if disclosed, might lead the insurer to refuse cover or…
- fact pleadingA system of pleading requiring a party to set out the facts giving rise to the claim, rather than the legal conclusio…
- fact questionA question of fact, that is, a disputed issue to be decided by the fact-finder rather than by the judge as a matter o…
- fact-finderOne or more people, such as jurors at a trial or an administrative-law judge at a hearing, who hear the testimony and…
- fact-findingThe taking of evidence to establish the truth about a disputed point. In international law it means gathering informa…
- fact-finding boardA body appointed to hear evidence and report on the facts of a dispute.
- fact-trierOne or more people, such as jurors at a trial or an administrative-law judge at a hearing, who hear the testimony and…
- factoIn fact; in point of fact.
- factorSomeone who buys accounts receivable at a discount; also, a garnishee.
- factor's lienA lien, usually created by statute, over goods a factor holds on consignment, letting the factor keep them until the…
- factorageThe pay a factor receives for their services; also, the business a factor carries on.
- factoringThe buying of accounts receivable at a discount, the discount reflecting the risk the buyer takes of delay or failure…
- factorizeTo attach a debtor's property that is in the hands of a third party; to garnish.
- factorizing processA procedure by which a third party, rather than the creditor, attaches a debtor's property; garnishment.
- factory actA statute regulating workers' hours, health, and safety.
- factual causeThe cause without which the event could not have happened.
- factual impossibilityImpossibility arising because the unlawful act cannot physically be done, as with trying to pick an empty pocket. It…
- factual presumptionA rebuttable presumption that may, but as a matter of law need not, be drawn from another established fact or set of…
- factumA fact, such as a person's actual presence in a new home; also, an act or deed, such as the proper execution of a wil…
- facultative certificateA contract of reinsurance negotiated separately to cover the risks under one particular policy, leaving the reinsurer…
- facultative reinsuranceReinsurance of a single risk, which the reinsurer is free to accept or refuse.
- facultiesAuthorization for someone to do what would otherwise not be allowed; also, the extent of a husband's estate, especial…
- Faculties, Court ofAn archbishop's tribunal that grants special dispensations, such as marriage licenses, and decides questions about mo…
- Faculties, Master of theAn officer of the archdiocese of Canterbury who heads the Court of Faculties, grants licenses, and admits or removes…
- faderfiumA marriage gift to the bride from her father or brother.
- faeder-feohProperty a wife brought to her husband on marriage. If he died, it went back to her where his heir refused to consent…
- faggotA bundle of firewood used to burn a heretic; also, an embroidered figure of one that a heretic who had recanted had t…
- failA transaction between securities brokers in which delivery and payment do not take place at the appointed time, usual…
- fail positionThe position where, after all transactions in a security have been netted off, a broker owes other brokers more of th…
- fail to deliverA selling broker's failure to deliver securities to the buying broker by the settlement date.
- fail to receiveA buying broker's failure to receive securities from the selling broker by the settlement date.
- failing circumstancesThe condition of being unable to pay debts as they fall due or in the ordinary course of business.
- failing-company doctrineIn antitrust law, the rule allowing a merger between competitors that would otherwise be forbidden, where one of them…
- failureA shortfall or lack; also, the omission of an expected act or performance.
- failure of a conditionA situation in which something the contract requires to happen does not happen, so that the party affected is release…
- failure of considerationThe failure of the promised consideration to materialize, which releases the other party from their obligation.
- failure of good behaviorThe failure of a line of descendants, so that a gift over takes effect because the person named has died with no issu…
- failure of issueThe failure of a line of descendants, so that a gift over takes effect because the person named has died with no issu…
- failure of justiceA grossly unfair outcome in a legal proceeding, as where a defendant is convicted although there was no evidence on a…
- failure of proofA party's failure to produce evidence establishing a fact essential to their claim or defense.
- failure of titleA seller's inability to show a good claim to the property they contracted to sell.
- failure of trustThe lapse of a trust because the document creating it is defective, or because of illegality or some other legal obst…
- failure otherwise than on the meritsThe defeat of a claim by a procedural device, without any decision on whether the elements of the claim exist.
- failure to bargain collectivelyAn employer's refusal to discuss labor issues with a union.
- failure to performA party's failure to meet its obligations under a contract.
- failure to state a cause of actionA claimant's failure to plead facts sufficient to support a claim, which is a ground for dismissing the complaint.
- failure to testifyA party's decision not to give evidence, especially a criminal defendant's. Under the Fifth Amendment neither the pro…
- failure to thriveA medical and psychological condition in which a child's height, weight, and motor development fall well below normal…
- failure-to-perform exclusionA clause in some commercial general liability policies excluding cover for the loss of use of undamaged property caus…
- faint actionAn action brought for an unlawful purpose on a pretended right.
- faint pleaderA false, fraudulent, or collusive way of pleading.
- fairImpartial and even-handed; free of bias or prejudice.
- fair and impartial juryA jury that begins the trial with no opinion about the case and bases its verdict on properly admitted evidence.
- fair and impartial trialA trial before an impartial tribunal, conducted according to the proper procedures, especially a criminal trial in wh…
- fair and proper legal assessmentA tax assessment that values property justly and by the standards the law lays down, so that owners are treated alike.
- fair and reasonable valueThe price a willing seller would accept and a willing buyer would pay on the open market, dealing at arm's length.
- fair and valuable considerationConsideration equal in value to what is given for it, given in good faith either in exchange for the property or obli…
- fair averagingA way of assessing tax that uses the average quantity and price of goods over a twelve-month period, rather than the…
- fair cash market valueThe price a willing seller would accept and a willing buyer would pay on the open market, dealing at arm's length.
- fair cash valueThe price a willing seller would accept and a willing buyer would pay on the open market, dealing at arm's length.
- fair commentA statement giving the writer's or speaker's honest opinion on a matter of public concern. It is a defense to a claim…
- fair competitionOpen, fair, and honest competition between businesses.
- fair considerationConsideration equal in value to what is given for it, given in good faith either in exchange for the property or obli…
- Fair Credit Billing ActA federal law making it easier to have billing errors by credit-card companies put right, and making those companies…
- fair dealingThe carrying on of business with full disclosure, usually by a company officer dealing with the company; also, a fidu…
- fair hearingA hearing conducted with proper notice to those affected and a genuine opportunity for them to be heard before an imp…
- Fair Labor Standards ActA federal law of 1938 regulating minimum wages, overtime pay, and the employment of children.
- fair market priceThe price a willing seller would accept and a willing buyer would pay on the open market, dealing at arm's length.
- fair market valueThe price a willing seller would accept and a willing buyer would pay on the open market, dealing at arm's length.
- fair noticeNotice sufficient to let a person know what is required of them and to give them a real chance to respond.
- fair playFairness, candor, and good faith in dealings with another.
- fair play and substantial justiceThe standard of fairness a court must meet in taking personal jurisdiction over a non-resident defendant if it is to…
- fair preponderance of the evidenceThe greater weight of the evidence: evidence that, while not enough to free the mind of all reasonable doubt, is stil…
- fair rate of returnThe level of profit a public utility is allowed to earn, as fixed by the regulating commission.
- fair representationUnion representation that properly covers all its members in collective bargaining and in bringing grievances.
- fair return on investmentThe usual or reasonable profit in a business, especially a public utility.
- fair saleA foreclosure or other judicial sale carried out with proper regard for the rights and interests of everyone affected.
- fair tradeTrade carried on under a fair-trade agreement.
- fair trialA trial before an impartial tribunal, conducted according to the proper procedures, especially a criminal trial in wh…
- fair useIn copyright law, a reasonable and limited use of a copyrighted work without the author's permission, such as quoting…
- fair valueThe price a willing seller would accept and a willing buyer would pay on the open market, dealing at arm's length.
- fair warningThe requirement that a criminal statute define an offense precisely enough that a reasonable person can tell what con…
- fair wear and tearDeterioration caused by ordinary use.
- fair-and-equitable requirementIn bankruptcy law, the standard a Chapter 11 plan must meet before it can be forced on a dissenting class of creditor…
- fair-credit-reporting actA federal or state law regulating the keeping of credit reports and guaranteeing consumers the right to see and corre…
- fair-cross-section requirementThe principle that the Sixth Amendment right to an impartial jury includes a requirement that the pool of potential j…
- fair-report privilegeA defense to a claim for publishing defamatory matter taken from an official or judicial proceeding, where the report…
- fair-trade agreementAn agreement that a seller will sell a producer's goods only at or above a stated minimum price. Such agreements were…
- fair-value accounting methodValuing assets at what they are actually worth now, or at market value.
- fair-value lawA statute allowing a borrower credit against a deficiency for the amount by which the property's fair market value ex…
- fairly-debatable ruleIn insurance law, the test in some states requiring an insurer to have a plausible ground for refusing a claim if it…
- fairness doctrineA former federal rule requiring broadcasters to give reasonable opportunity for opposing views on issues of public im…
- faitAnything done; an act or deed.
- Faithfully Executed ClauseThe clause of the U.S. Constitution, in article II, section 3, requiring the President to take care that the laws are…
- fakeSomething that is not what it claims to be.
- Falcidian lawA Roman law providing that no one could give away more than three-quarters of their property in legacies, so that the…
- Falcidian portionThe quarter of an estate that the instituted heirs are entitled to keep. Louisiana has abolished it, though an heir e…
- Falconer errorA trial court's failure to tell the jury that finding the defendant guilty of manslaughter requires acquitting them o…
- falsa causaA mistaken reason or motive, which in Roman law did not necessarily invalidate a gift or bequest.
- falsa demonstratioA false description of a person or thing in a legal document. A simple mistake in description, grammar, or spelling w…
- falsariusA counterfeiter.
- falseUntrue; also, deceitful, or not genuine. Something may be false by design, by accident, or by mistake.
- false actionAn action brought for an unlawful purpose on a pretended right.
- false advertisingThe tort, and sometimes crime, of publishing an advertisement that is untrue, deceptive, or misleading.
- false answerA sham answer in a pleading.
- false arrestAn arrest made without proper legal authority.
- false characterThe offense of impersonating a servant's master or mistress.
- false checkA check that is not paid because the account holds too little money or does not exist.
- false claimAn untrue assertion, especially an overstated bill.
- False Claims ActA federal statute imposing civil and criminal penalties on those who bill the government falsely, deliver less than t…
- false conflict of lawsA situation that looks like a conflict of laws but is not, because the laws in question do not really differ, because…
- false demonstrationA false description of a person or thing in a legal document. A simple mistake in description, grammar, or spelling w…
- false evidenceTestimony that is untrue. The phrase is wider than perjury, which requires a particular state of mind; false testimon…
- false impersonationThe offense of falsely holding oneself out as another person, usually a law-enforcement officer, in order to deceive…
- false imprisonmentThe confining of a person within fixed limits without justification or consent. It is both a common-law misdemeanor a…
- false judgmentA writ brought to obtain review of a judgment given by a court that keeps no record.
- false lightIn an invasion-of-privacy claim, an allegation that the defendant attributed to the claimant views they do not hold a…
- false makingThe fraudulent making of a false document, or the altering of a genuine one, so that it may be used as authentic. For…
- false misrepresentationA redundant phrase, since misrepresentation already carries the idea of falsity.
- false newsThe misdemeanor of spreading false reports that cause discord between the monarch and the people, or among the great…
- false oathThe offense of swearing to what one knows to be untrue, on an oath lawfully administered; perjury.
- false personationThe offense of falsely holding oneself out as another person, usually a law-enforcement officer, in order to deceive…
- false pleaA plainly frivolous or absurd pleading put in only to vex the other side or cause delay.
- false pretensesThe crime of knowingly obtaining title to another's property by misrepresenting a fact, meaning to defraud. Unknown t…
- false promiseA promise made with no intention of keeping it.
- false reportThe offense of telling the police about a crime that never happened.
- false representationThe making of a false or misleading statement about something, usually meaning to deceive; also, the statement itself.
- false returnA process server's or court officer's false record that process was served, that some other step was taken, or that s…
- false statementAn untrue statement made knowingly and meant to mislead. In federal law it names three distinct offenses: falsifying…
- false swearingThe offense of swearing to what one knows to be untrue, on an oath lawfully administered; perjury.
- false testimonyTestimony that is untrue. The phrase is wider than perjury, which requires a particular state of mind; false testimon…
- false verdictA verdict that is manifestly wrong, given against the evidence or contrary to the judge's directions, and which a cou…
- false-implication libelLibel of a public figure in a news article that leaves a false impression, even though every statement in it, taken o…
- falsehoodA lie.
- falsi crimenAnother name for crimen falsi, the offense of falsification or forgery.
- falsifyTo make something false; to counterfeit or forge it. Rarely, the word means to prove something false.
- falsifying a recordThe crime of making false entries in a public record or otherwise tampering with it, meaning to deceive, to injure, o…
- falsitySomething that is untrue; also, the quality of being untrue.
- falso retorno breviumFormerly, a writ against a sheriff for making a false return to a writ.
- falsonariusA counterfeiter.
- falsumA false statement; also, a crime involving forgery or falsification.
- falsus in uno doctrineThe rule that where a jury believes a witness has deliberately lied about a material matter, it may disregard the who…
- familiaEveryone under the authority of the head of a household; also, a person's legal relations through the family, includi…
- familiae erciscundaeAn action to divide an inheritance among the heirs.
- familialTo do with a family, or arising from family relationships.
- familiares regisMembers of the king's household; also, the old title of the six clerks of chancery in England.
- familyParents and their children; also, a group of people connected by blood, marriage, or law, or a group, usually related…
- family allowanceA share of a deceased person's estate set aside by statute for a surviving spouse, children, or parents, regardless o…
- family arrangementAn informal agreement among family members, usually to divide property differently from the way the law would.
- family courtA court dealing with divorce, custody and support of children, paternity, domestic violence, and other family matters.
- family disturbanceA disturbance, usually at home and usually within a family, involving violence and often leading to a call to the pol…
- Family DivisionA section of the High Court with jurisdiction over family matters such as divorce and custody, and over uncontested p…
- family farmerA farmer whose debts fall below a statutory ceiling and whose income comes mainly from farming, and who may therefore…
- family lawThe body of law dealing with marriage, divorce, adoption, custody and support of children, and related family matters.
- family leaveUnpaid leave from work taken to have or care for a baby, or to look after a sick family member.
- family meetingAn advisory jury called to help the court in a family matter; also, a council of a minor's relatives assembled to adv…
- family of nationsIn international law, the community of countries to which international law applies. The phrase is now falling out of…
- family partnershipA partnership whose members include family members.
- family settlementAn informal agreement among family members, usually to divide property differently from the way the law would.
- family-automobile doctrineIn tort law, the rule making a vehicle's owner liable for injury or damage caused by a family member's careless drivi…
- family-car doctrineIn tort law, the rule making a vehicle's owner liable for injury or damage caused by a family member's careless drivi…
- family-expense statuteA state law allowing family debts such as rent, food, clothing, and tuition to be charged against a spouse's property…
- family-farmer bankruptcyThe chapter of the Bankruptcy Code providing a court-approved plan of debt repayment for family farmers with a regula…
- family-income insuranceAn agreement to pay benefits for a set period after the insured's death, with the face value paid to the named benefi…
- family-partnership rulesRules designed to stop income being shifted between partners, especially family members, who may not be dealing at ar…
- family-purpose ruleIn tort law, the rule making a vehicle's owner liable for injury or damage caused by a family member's careless drivi…
- famosusOf a statement, defamatory; of an action, one that brought infamy on the defendant if lost.
- fanciful markA trademark made up of an invented word with no meaning of its own. Such a mark is inherently distinctive, is protect…
- fanciful termA trademark made up of an invented word with no meaning of its own. Such a mark is inherently distinctive, is protect…
- fanciful trademarkA trademark made up of an invented word with no meaning of its own. Such a mark is inherently distinctive, is protect…
- Fannie MaeA corporation chartered by the federal government but privately owned and run, which provides a secondary market for…
- farleyMoney a tenant paid instead of handing over a chattel on a death. The word was used only of tenants in the west of En…
- farmLand and the buildings on it used for agriculture. In older usage the word meant rent, and by extension came to mean…
- Farm Credit AdministrationThe federal agency responsible for supervising the federal farm-credit system.
- farm letTo lease land for rent. The phrase to farm let was common in leases of land.
- farm outTo hand something over, such as an oil-and-gas lease, for another to work. The term comes from the Roman practice of…
- farm productsCrops, livestock, and the supplies used or produced in farming, together with the unprocessed products of crops or li…
- farmeeAn oil-and-gas sublessee to whom a lease is assigned so that they may drill a well.
- farmerSomeone whose business is farming.
- farmer bankruptcyThe chapter of the Bankruptcy Code providing a court-approved plan of debt repayment for family farmers with a regula…
- Farmers Home AdministrationA division of the U.S. Department of Agriculture that makes mortgage loans to farmers, insures home mortgages, and fu…
- farmineeAn oil-and-gas sublessee to whom a lease is assigned so that they may drill a well.
- farming operationIn bankruptcy law, a business engaged in farming, working the soil, dairying, ranching, raising crops, poultry, or li…
- farminorAn oil-and-gas lessee who assigns the lease to someone else who agrees to drill a well.
- farmorAn oil-and-gas lessee who assigns the lease to someone else who agrees to drill a well.
- farmout agreementIn oil-and-gas law, an agreement under which the holder of a lease assigns all or part of it to another, who undertak…
- farmouteeAn oil-and-gas sublessee to whom a lease is assigned so that they may drill a well.
- farmoutorAn oil-and-gas lessee who assigns the lease to someone else who agrees to drill a well.
- farthing of landAn area of land measured as a quarter of a larger area, much as a farthing was a quarter of a penny. It ranged from a…
- farvandIn maritime law, a voyage or passage by water under a charterparty.
- fasIn Roman law, moral law of divine origin, as opposed to jus, which is law made by people.
- FASBThe independent body of accountants responsible for setting, interpreting, and improving the standards for financial…
- FASB statementAn official pronouncement of the Financial Accounting Standards Board establishing a particular accounting practice a…
- fast estateLand above the high-water mark, which is not covered by the ordinary flow of the tide.
- fast landLand above the high-water mark, which is not covered by the ordinary flow of the tide.
- fast-trackAn accelerated procedure for resolving a dispute; also, a court or district known for disposing of cases quickly.
- fast-trackingA court's method of speeding cases through in order to clear its docket, as by ordering that all discovery be finishe…
- fastiThe days on which court may be held; also, a calendar of such days.
- fatalTo do with death; also, providing grounds for holding something legally invalid.
- fatal defectA defect serious enough to make a contract void.
- fatal errorAn error that affects a party's substantive rights or the outcome of the case, and so is a ground for reversal where…
- fatal varianceA difference between what was charged and what was proved that either deprives the defendant of fair notice of the ch…
- fatherThe male parent.
- Fatico hearingIn criminal procedure, a sentencing hearing at which both sides may put forward evidence on what the sentence should be.
- faultAn error or defect of judgment or conduct; any departure from prudence or duty through inattention, incapacity, perve…
- fault of omissionNegligence arising from a failure to act.
- fault-first methodA way of applying a settlement credit to a jury's verdict: the award is first reduced by the claimant's share of the…
- Fauntleroy doctrineThe rule that a state must give full faith and credit to another state's judgment, where that state had proper jurisd…
- fautorAn abettor or active supporter; also, someone who encourages resistance to legal process.
- fauxFormerly, false or counterfeit.
- faux actionA false action.
- faux moneyCounterfeit money.
- favorInclination toward one side; partiality.
- favor negotiiThe principle favoring a reading of a contract that upholds it, over one that would make it unlawful or unenforceable.
- favor paternitatisThe principle that facts should be read so as to uphold a child's paternity.
- favor solutionisIn the conflict of laws, the principle that a contract should be read according to the law governing its performance.
- favor testamentiThe principle that a court should try to uphold the validity of a will.
- favored beneficiaryA beneficiary the law treats with particular tenderness, such as a spouse or child, whose interest may be protected a…
- favored nationA treaty status given to a nation, usually in trade, entitling it to the privileges granted to any other party to the…
- favored-nation clauseA clause in an agreement between two nations by which each undertakes to treat the other as well as it treats any nat…
- favorite of the lawA person or status the law treats with particular generosity.
- favoritismPreference based on something other than merit, usually in a way that is unfair.
- faxThe sending of an exact copy of a printed page over telephone lines; also, the machine used to do it, or the message…
- FBIA division of the U.S. Department of Justice responsible for investigating breaches of federal law, apart from those…
- FCAThe federal agency responsible for supervising the federal farm-credit system.
- FCCThe federal agency regulating interstate and foreign communication by radio, television, telephone, and telegraph, an…
- FCJA failure to comply with a judgment imposed for a traffic offense. The driver's license stays suspended until the fai…
- FCPVA failure to deal with parking tickets. Where a person has a certain number unpaid within a jurisdiction, often six,…
- FDAThe Food and Drug Administration, the federal agency regulating food, drugs, medical devices, and cosmetics.
- FDICAn independent government agency that insures deposits at participating banks up to a statutory amount for each depos…
- fealtyIn feudal law, the loyalty a tenant or vassal owed a lord.
- fearmLand and the buildings on it used for agriculture. In older usage the word meant rent, and by extension came to mean…
- feasanceThe doing or carrying out of an act, condition, or obligation.
- feasantDoing or causing.
- feasibility standardIn bankruptcy law, the requirement that a Chapter 11 reorganization plan be workable and have a reasonable prospect o…
- feastAn established holiday or festival in the church calendar, used to date legal documents. Four were principal: the Ann…
- featherbeddingA union practice meant to increase employment and protect jobs by requiring an employer to hire or keep more workers…
- FECAThe Federal Employees' Compensation Act, the law providing compensation for federal workers injured on the job.
- fecial lawAnother name for fetial law, the body of Roman rules governing declarations of war and the making of treaties.
- fecialesThe order of Roman priests whose duties concerned dealings with other states, including the declaring of war and the…
- federalTo do with a system of government divided vertically between national and regional levels with different responsibili…
- federal actA statute enacted by the U.S. Congress.
- federal agencyA department or other body within the federal executive branch, including government corporations and the Government…
- Federal Aviation ActA federal law creating the Federal Aviation Agency to regulate aircraft and air travel, including safety, the certifi…
- Federal Aviation AdministrationThe federal agency responsible for regulating air commerce, improving aviation safety, promoting civil aviation and a…
- Federal Bureau of InvestigationA division of the U.S. Department of Justice responsible for investigating breaches of federal law, apart from those…
- federal censusThe count of the population taken by the U.S. Census Bureau. The Constitution requires it every ten years so that sea…
- Federal CircuitAnother name for the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, which hears appeals in patent and certain other s…
- federal citizenA citizen of the United States.
- federal common lawThe judge-made law of the federal courts, leaving aside cases governed by state law. The rules applied to interstate…
- Federal Communications CommissionThe federal agency regulating interstate and foreign communication by radio, television, telephone, and telegraph, an…
- federal courtA court exercising federal jurisdiction, including the U.S. Supreme Court, the courts of appeals, the district courts…
- federal crimeAn offense under a federal statute. Most are collected in Title 18 of the U.S. Code.
- Federal Deposit Insurance CorporationAn independent government agency that insures deposits at participating banks up to a statutory amount for each depos…
- federal enclaveLand a state has ceded to the United States, such as a military base, national park, federally run highway, or Indian…
- Federal Energy Regulatory CommissionThe agency responsible for administering the Natural Gas Act and the Natural Gas Policy Act. It regulates, among othe…
- federal farm credit bankOne of a system of federally chartered institutions created to provide credit for farming. They came out of a merger…
- Federal Farm Credit Banks Funding CorporationA federal corporation that manages the sale of farm-credit-system securities in the money and capital markets and adv…
- federal farm credit systemThe national cooperative system of banks and associations providing credit to farmers, agricultural businesses, and r…
- federal governmentThe national government of the United States, as distinguished from the governments of the individual states.
- federal grand juryA grand jury sitting in a federal court, which decides in closed proceedings whether the evidence is strong enough to…
- Federal Home Loan BankOne of a system of eleven regional banks set up in 1932 to supply credit for home mortgage lending by savings-and-loa…
- Federal Home Loan Bank BoardA federal agency that regulated federal savings-and-loan associations and the federal home loan bank system. It was a…
- Federal Home Loan Mortgage CorporationA corporation that buys both conventional and federally insured first mortgages from members of the Federal Reserve S…
- Federal Housing AdministrationThe division of the Department of Housing and Urban Development that encourages mortgage lending by insuring loans on…
- Federal Housing Finance BoardAn independent agency supervising the federal home-loan-bank system, successor to the Federal Home Loan Bank Board.
- federal instrumentalityA means or agency the national government uses; also, a national agency beyond the reach of state control.
- Federal Insurance Contributions ActThe federal act imposing the social-security tax on employers and employees.
- federal intermediate credit bankOne of a system of twelve regional banks created in 1923 to discount the obligations of agricultural credit corporati…
- Federal Judicial CodeTitle 28 of the U.S. Code, dealing with the organization, jurisdiction, venue, and procedure of the federal courts, a…
- federal jurisdictionThe exercise of authority by the federal courts; also, the field of study concerned with the jurisdiction of those co…
- Federal Kidnapping ActA federal law punishing kidnapping for ransom or reward where the victim is carried across state or national lines. I…
- federal labor unionA local union chartered directly by the AFL-CIO rather than through a national union.
- federal land bankOne of a system of twelve regional banks created in 1916 to make mortgage loans to farmers, now merged with the feder…
- federal lawThe body of law made up of the U.S. Constitution, federal statutes and regulations, treaties, and federal common law.
- federal magistrateA federal judicial officer who hears civil and criminal pretrial matters and may conduct civil trials and trials of c…
- Federal Maritime CommissionA federal agency regulating the waterborne foreign and domestic commerce of the United States.
- Federal Mediation and Conciliation ServiceAn independent agency whose purpose is to prevent labor disputes from disrupting the flow of interstate commerce.
- Federal National Mortgage AssociationA corporation chartered by the federal government but privately owned and run, which provides a secondary market for…
- Federal Power CommissionThe former name of the agency now called the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, which administers the Natural Gas…
- federal preemptionIn constitutional law, the principle, drawn from the Supremacy Clause, that federal law overrides any inconsistent st…
- Federal Procurement RegulationThe former name of the Federal Acquisition Regulation, the rules governing purchasing by federal agencies.
- federal questionA legal issue turning on the interpretation or application of the U.S. Constitution, an act of Congress, or a treaty.…
- Federal RegisterA daily publication in which U.S. administrative agencies print their regulations, including proposed ones put out fo…
- federal regulationsThe yearly collection of executive-agency regulations published in the Federal Register, together with earlier regula…
- Federal ReporterThe first series of the Federal Reporter, covering federal trial and appellate decisions from 1880 to 1924.
- Federal Reporter Second SeriesThe second series of the Federal Reporter, covering federal appellate decisions from 1924 to 1993.
- Federal Reporter Third SeriesThe third series of the Federal Reporter, covering federal appellate decisions from 1993 onward.
- Federal Reserve Board of GovernorsThe board that supervises the Federal Reserve System and sets national monetary and credit policy. It has seven membe…
- federal reserve noteThe paper currency in circulation in the United States. The notes are issued by the Federal Reserve Banks and are in…
- Federal Reserve SystemThe Federal Reserve System, the central banking system of the United States.
- Federal Rules ActA 1934 statute giving the U.S. Supreme Court authority to adopt rules of civil procedure for the federal courts.
- Federal Rules DecisionsA series of reported federal decisions from 1938 onward interpreting or applying the Federal Rules of Civil, Criminal…
- Federal Rules of Appellate ProcedureThe rules governing appeals to the U.S. courts of appeals from lower courts and certain agency proceedings, and appli…
- Federal Rules of Bankruptcy ProcedureThe rules governing proceedings brought under the Bankruptcy Code.
- Federal Rules of Civil ProcedureThe rules governing civil actions in the U.S. district courts.
- Federal Rules of Criminal ProcedureThe rules governing criminal proceedings in the U.S. district courts.
- Federal Rules of EvidenceThe Federal Rules of Evidence, the rules governing what may be received in evidence in the federal courts.
- Federal Savings and Loan Insurance CorporationA federal agency created in 1934 to insure deposits in savings-and-loan associations and savings banks. When it becam…
- federal securities law reporterA body of federal law reported in a specialized series, cited in briefs and opinions by volume and page.
- federal stateA state in which sovereignty is divided between a central government and the governments of the constituent states; a…
- federal statuteA statute enacted by the U.S. Congress.
- Federal SupplementThe Federal Supplement, a series of reported decisions of the federal district courts and certain specialized courts…
- Federal Supplement 2dThe second series of the Federal Supplement, covering decisions of the federal district courts and the Court of Inter…
- Federal Tort Claims ActA statute cutting back federal sovereign immunity and allowing damages to be recovered in federal court for torts com…
- Federal Trade CommissionThe independent regulatory agency created in 1914 to enforce the antitrust laws and to act against false, deceptive,…
- federal transferA federal district court's power to move a civil action to any other district or division where the claimant could ha…
- federal-comity doctrineThe principle requiring federal district courts not to interfere in one another's affairs.
- federal-question jurisdictionA federal court's power over claims arising under the U.S. Constitution, an act of Congress, or a treaty.
- federalismThe relationship between the national and regional governments in a federal system, and the way power is divided betw…
- Federalist PapersA series of 85 essays by Alexander Hamilton, John Jay, and James Madison, written under the name Publius, explaining…
- Federalist SocietyA national association of lawyers, law students, and others holding conservative and libertarian views on political a…
- federationA league or union of states or peoples under a strong central authority, in which the members keep varying degrees of…
- feeA charge for labor or services, especially professional services.
- fee damagesDamages awarded to the owner of neighboring property for harm caused by building and running an elevated railroad. Th…
- fee estateAn estate held in fee, that is, an interest of potentially unlimited duration in land.
- fee expectantRarely, a fee tail created where land is given to a husband and wife and the heirs of their bodies.
- fee farmA tenure in which land is held forever at a yearly rent, without fealty, homage, or services beyond those named in th…
- fee interestAn interest in land held in fee, that is, one of potentially unlimited duration.
- fee sharingThe sharing of a fee between lawyers, whether between the one who handles a matter and the one who referred it, or be…
- fee simpleThe largest interest a person can hold in land: an estate of potentially unlimited duration that the owner may sell o…
- fee simple absoluteAn estate of unlimited duration, created by a grant such as to Albert and his heirs, with no condition or limitation…
- fee simple conditionalAn estate limited to a particular class of the grantee's heirs, to the exclusion of others, as in a grant to A and th…
- fee simple defeasibleAn estate that may end either because the line of heirs runs out or because a special limitation, condition subsequen…
- fee simple determinableAn estate that ends automatically and returns to the grantor if a stated event occurs, as in a grant to a school so l…
- fee simple subject to an executory limitationA fee simple that, on a stated event, passes automatically to a third person rather than back to the grantor.
- fee simple subject to special limitationAn estate that ends automatically and returns to the grantor if a stated event occurs. The interest the grantor keeps…
- fee simple upon conditionAn estate that the grantor may bring to an end by re-entering the land if a stated condition is broken.
- fee statementA lawyer's bill for services already given or still to be given, usually itemizing expenses as well.
- fee tailAn estate limited to a particular line of descendants. A number of states have abolished it.
- fee-farm rentThe rent reserved on a grant of a fee farm, usually a quarter or a third of the land's value; also, a rent charge iss…
- fee-splittingThe sharing of a fee between the lawyer who handles a matter and the one who referred it, which some states treat as…
- feeder organizationIn tax law, a body that carries on a business for the benefit of a tax-exempt organization. It is not itself tax-exempt.
- feemailA lawyer's fee extorted by intimidation, threats, or pressure; also, the extorting of such a fee.
- feignTo make something up or fabricate it; to put on a false show.
- feigned accompliceSomeone who pretends to take part in a crime in order to inform on the others, often in exchange for a reward or leni…
- feigned actionAn action brought for an unlawful purpose on a pretended right.
- feigned issueA proceeding in which the parties agreed to have an issue tried by a jury without bringing a formal action, used wher…
- feigned recoveryAn elaborate proceeding, full of legal fictions, by which a tenant in tail broke the entail on an estate. It eased th…
- FELAThe Federal Employers' Liability Act, which allows railroad workers injured on the job to sue their employers.
- feleFaithful; loyal, as a tenant to a lord.
- fellowSomeone joined with another in a legal status or relationship; also, a member of a college, board, or other body.
- fellow servantA co-worker; someone employed by the same employer.
- fellow-officer ruleIn criminal procedure, the rule that an arrest is valid where the arresting officer does not personally know enough t…
- fellow-servant ruleThe common-law rule that an employer is not liable for injuries an employee suffers through a co-worker's negligence.…
- felo de seThe taking of one's own life.
- felonSomeone convicted of a felony.
- feloniaAn offense causing a vassal to forfeit his fee.
- feloniousTo do with a felony; amounting to a felony. The word also carries the sense of proceeding from an evil purpose.
- felonious assaultAn assault serious enough to be classed and punished as a felony.
- felonious homicideA killing that amounts to a felony, as opposed to one that is excusable or justifiable.
- felonyA serious crime, usually punishable by more than a year's imprisonment or by death, such as murder, rape, arson, or b…
- felony de seThe taking of one's own life.
- felony murderMurder that happens in the course of committing another crime, especially a serious felony.
- felony-murder ruleThe rule that any death occurring in the course of committing or attempting a felony is murder. Most states confine i…
- fem-critA feminist follower of critical legal studies.
- femeA woman; also, a wife.
- femicideThe killing of a woman; also, someone who kills a woman.
- feminist jurisprudenceA branch of jurisprudence examining the relationship between women and the law, including the history of legal and so…
- fence-monthThe summer fawning season, during which it was unlawful to hunt deer.
- fencing patentA patent taken out to widen the apparent scope of an invention beyond the article or process the holder actually inte…
- fenerationThe lending of money at interest; in older usage, usury.
- feodalTo do with feudalism, or arising out of a feud.
- feodal actionA real action; an action concerning land alone.
- feodal systemA system of landholding, above all in medieval Europe, in which everyone was bound by their place in a hierarchy of m…
- feodalityIn feudal law, the loyalty a tenant or vassal owed a lord.
- feodarum consuetudinesThe customs of feuds: the body of feudal customary law collected in the Books of Feuds.
- feodaryAn officer of the Court of Wards who travelled with the escheator from county to county to receive royal rents and va…
- feodatoryA tenant holding land by feudal tenure; a vassal.
- feodumA fee; an estate capable of being inherited.
- feodum antiquumA feud that passed to a vassal from an ancestor who left no will, or one an ancestor's family had held for more than…
- feodum apertumA feud that fell back to the lord because the tenant's line failed, because the tenant committed a crime, or for some…
- feodum laicumA lay feud, as opposed to one held of the church.
- feodum militisA knight's fee: the land held in return for the service of one knight.
- feodum nobileA feud for which the tenant performed guard duty and owed fealty and homage.
- feodum novumA new feud; one beginning with the present holder rather than coming down by succession.
- feodum talliatumA fee tail: an estate limited to a particular line of descendants.
- feoffamentumFormerly, a grant of land in fee; an enfeoffment.
- feoffareFormerly, to enfeoff; to put someone in possession of a freehold estate.
- feoffatorFormerly, the person who grants a freehold estate; a feoffor.
- feoffatusFormerly, the person to whom a freehold estate is granted; a feoffee.
- feoffeeThe person to whom an estate in fee simple is transferred; the recipient of a fief.
- feoffee to usesSomeone to whom land is conveyed for the benefit of a third party; a holder of the legal title for another's use.
- feoffmentThe conveying of a freehold estate; a grant of land in fee simple.
- feoffment to usesA grant of land to one person for the benefit of a third. The person taking the land was bound in conscience to hold…
- feoffment with livery of seisinThe conveying of a freehold estate by handing over possession on the land itself, in the presence of witnesses.
- feofforThe person who transfers an estate in fee simple.
- ferae bestiaeWild beasts. Under Roman law a wild animal belonged to no one, so ownership passed to whoever caught it.
- ferae naturaeOf a wild nature: the phrase for animals that are wild by kind and belong to no one until captured.
- FERCThe agency responsible for administering the Natural Gas Act and the Natural Gas Policy Act. It regulates, among othe…
- ferdfareA summons to military service; also, an exemption from it.
- Feres doctrineThe rule that a service member cannot sue the United States under the Federal Tort Claims Act for injuries suffered i…
- feriaA weekday; also, a holiday, a fair, or a ferry.
- feriaeIn Roman law, religious and public holidays on which politics and lawsuits were suspended and slaves were partly excu…
- ferial dayA day free from work, pleading, and service of process; a holiday. Under a statute of Henry VI the word was also used…
- ferlingumAn eighth of a mile, or forty poles.
- ferlingusAn eighth of a mile, or forty poles.
- fermLand and the buildings on it used for agriculture. In older usage the word meant rent, and by extension came to mean…
- fermerA lessee, especially one holding land for farming; also, someone holding land or a right for a term.
- ferriageThe toll or fare paid for carrying people or goods on a ferry.
- ferryA boat used to carry people or goods across water, usually between fixed points over a short distance; also, the busi…
- ferry franchiseThe right, usually exclusive, granted by government to carry people or goods across water for a fee.
- fertile-octogenarian ruleThe legal fiction, applied under the rule against perpetuities, that a woman may bear a child for as long as she live…
- festing-manA bondsman; a surety.
- festing-pennyEarnest money given to a servant on being hired.
- festinum remediumFormerly, a speedy remedy, used in cases such as actions for dower or assize where redress was to be given without ne…
- festucaA rod or stick used as a pledge of good faith by a party to a contract, or as a token in conveying land.
- fetialesThe order of Roman priests whose duties concerned dealings with other states, including the declaring of war and the…
- feticideThe killing of a fetus, usually by an assault on the mother; a deliberately induced miscarriage.
- fetterA chain or shackle for the feet.
- feudAn inheritable estate in land granted by a feudal superior to a tenant, held on condition of performing services for…
- feudaThe plural of feudum, a feudal holding. The Latin word is the root of feudal and subinfeudation; some English histori…
- feuda antiquaAncient feuds: holdings that had come down through a family for several generations.
- feudalTo do with feudalism, or arising out of a feud.
- feudal actionA real action; an action concerning land alone.
- feudal lawThe law of land tenures that prevailed in England, especially after the Norman Conquest.
- feudal systemA system of landholding, above all in medieval Europe, in which everyone was bound by their place in a hierarchy of m…
- feudalismA system of landholding, above all in medieval Europe, in which everyone was bound by their place in a hierarchy of m…
- feudarum consuetudinesThe customs of feuds: a compilation of feudal law and custom made in Milan in the 12th century, long treated as autho…
- feudaryOf a vassal, owing feudal allegiance to a lord.
- feudatoryOf a vassal, owing feudal allegiance to a lord.
- feudeAn inheritable estate in land granted by a feudal superior to a tenant, held on condition of performing services for…
- feudistA writer on feudal law, such as Cujacius, Spelman, or Craig.
- feudumA fief or feud; a feudal holding.
- feudum antiquumA feud that passed to a vassal from an ancestor who left no will, or one an ancestor's family had held for more than…
- feudum apertumA feud that fell back to the lord because the tenant's line failed, because the tenant committed a crime, or for some…
- feudum francumA free feud: one that was noble and exempt from the taxes and levies that ordinary feuds bore.
- feudum hauberticumA feud held on the service of appearing fully armed when the lord summoned the tenant.
- feudum individuumA feud that could not be divided and descended only to the eldest son.
- feudum laicumA lay feud, as opposed to one held of the church.
- feudum ligiumA liege feud: one held directly of the sovereign; also, a feud for which the vassal owed loyalty to his lord against…
- feudum maternumA feud that came down to the holder through the mother's side.
- feudum militareA knight's feud, held by knight service and regarded as the most honorable kind of tenure.
- feudum nobileA feud for which the tenant performed guard duty and owed fealty and homage.
- feudum novumA new feud; one beginning with the present holder rather than coming down by succession.
- feudum novum ut antiquumFormerly, a new feud held on the same terms as an ancient one.
- feudum paternumA feud the tenant's father's family had held for four generations; also, one descendible only through the paternal li…
- feudum propriumAn original feud, military in character and held by military service.
- feudum talliatumA fee tail: an estate limited to a particular line of descendants.
- feumA feud or fee; a feudal holding.
- FGAFree from general average; also, foreign general average.
- FHAThe Federal Housing Administration, the division of the Department of Housing and Urban Development that encourages m…
- FHA mortgageA mortgage insured, wholly or partly, by the Federal Housing Administration.
- FHLBOne of a system of eleven regional banks created in 1932 to supply credit for home mortgage lending by savings-and-lo…
- FHLBBA federal agency that regulated federal savings-and-loan associations and the federal home loan bank system. It was a…
- FHLMCA corporation that buys both conventional and federally insured first mortgages from members of the Federal Reserve S…
- fiatAn order or decree, especially an arbitrary one; also, a court order on a routine matter such as scheduling.
- fiat justitiaLet justice be done: the words by which the Crown commissioned the House of Lords to hear an appeal.
- fiat moneyPaper currency that is not backed by gold or silver but is money because the government declares it so.
- fiauntAn order or decree, especially an arbitrary one; also, a court order on a routine matter such as scheduling.
- FICAThe federal act imposing the social-security tax on employers and employees.
- fictioAn assumption the law makes, such as that a claimant was a citizen, in order to produce legal consequences that would…
- fictio jurisAn assumption that something is true even though it may not be, made especially in judicial reasoning so as to change…
- fictionAn assumption that something is true even though it may not be, made especially in judicial reasoning so as to change…
- fiction of lawAn assumption that something is true even though it may not be, made especially in judicial reasoning so as to change…
- fictional actionA case between two parties who have no real dispute, brought merely to settle a legal question or obtain a precedent…
- fictitiousTo do with a fiction, especially a legal fiction.
- fictitious actionA case, usually improper, brought solely to obtain a ruling on a question of fact or law rather than to resolve a gen…
- fictitious issueA proceeding in which the parties agreed to have an issue tried by a jury without bringing a formal action, used wher…
- fictitious nameThe name under which a business operates, other than its owner's own name. Many states require an individual or busin…
- fictitious personAn entity, such as a corporation, that the law creates and gives certain rights and duties of a human being; a being,…
- fictitious promiseA promise the law reads in so as to make someone liable on a contract, in order to prevent fraud or unjust enrichment.
- fictitious-payee ruleIn commercial law, the rule that where a drawer or maker issues an instrument to a payee whom they do not actually in…
- fide commissarySomeone holding the equitable rights in property and receiving its rents, issues, and profits; a beneficiary.
- fide-committeeA beneficiary; the person for whose benefit property is held.
- fidei-commissariusSomeone holding the equitable rights in property and receiving its rents, issues, and profits; a beneficiary.
- fideicommissaryIn Roman and civil law, to do with a fideicommissum.
- fideicommissary substitutionIn civil law, an arrangement by which property is given to one person with a direction to pass it on to another named…
- fideicommissumIn Roman law, a request in a will that the person taking property pass it on to another. It began as a purely moral o…
- fidejubereIn Roman law, to become a surety. The parties used forms of this word in the formal question and answer that created…
- fidejussionAn act by which one person becomes an additional security for another. It does not remove the principal's liability b…
- fidejussorIn Roman law, a guarantor who becomes bound to pay another's debt; in maritime law, someone who stands bail for a def…
- fidelitasIn feudal law, the loyalty a tenant or vassal owed a lord.
- fidelity and guaranty insuranceAn agreement to indemnify an employer against loss caused by the dishonesty of an employee or of someone holding a po…
- fidelity bondA bond indemnifying an employer or business against loss through embezzlement, theft, or gross carelessness by an emp…
- fidelity guaranty insuranceAn agreement to indemnify an employer against loss caused by the dishonesty of an employee or of someone holding a po…
- fidelity insuranceAn agreement to indemnify an employer against loss caused by the dishonesty of an employee or of someone holding a po…
- fidem mentiriFormerly, to betray one's faith or fealty, said of a feudal tenant who broke the loyalty sworn to the lord.
- fidepromissionIn Roman law, a contract of guarantee made by formal question and answer. It was one of the five forms of adpromission.
- fidepromissorIn Roman law, a person who becomes surety for another by the formal words of a stipulation.
- fides factaFaith-making, or the pledging of faith. Among the Franks and Lombards, undertakings were confirmed by symbolic acts,…
- fiduciaIn Roman law, an early form of mortgage in which the debtor transferred title to the creditor by a formal sale, on an…
- fiduciarius heresIn Roman law, a person named as heir in a will but in a fiduciary capacity, bound to hand the inheritance on to the p…
- fiduciarius tutorIn Roman law, a guardian who became such by carrying out a trust to free someone in their power.
- fiduciarySomeone who owes another the duties of good faith, trust, confidence, and candor; a person who must take a high stand…
- fiduciary bondA surety bond required of a trustee, administrator, executor, guardian, or other fiduciary to guarantee that they wil…
- fiduciary contractAn agreement by which one party hands something to another on the understanding that the second will return it.
- fiduciary debtA debt arising out of a fiduciary relationship rather than a contract.
- fiduciary dutyThe duty of utmost good faith, trust, and candor that a fiduciary, such as a lawyer or company officer, owes the pers…
- fiduciary relationshipA relationship in which one person must act for the benefit of another on matters within its scope. Trustee and benef…
- fiduciary-shield doctrineIn corporate law, the principle that an act done by a company officer in that capacity cannot found jurisdiction over…
- fiefA feudal estate in land held of a superior on condition of service; figuratively, an area of personal dominion, espec…
- fief-tenantThe holder of a fief or fee; a freeholder.
- field auditAn IRS audit conducted at the taxpayer's business premises or their lawyer's offices.
- field bookA book of a surveyor's notes made on site, describing by direction and distance the running of the property lines and…
- Field CodeThe New York Code of Procedure of 1848, the first comprehensive Anglo-American code of civil procedure and a model fo…
- field sobriety testA test of motor skills an officer gives during a stop to judge whether a driver has been drinking, usually by checkin…
- field warehousingA way of financing stock in which a merchant pledges inventory that is held by a third party. It is used where the go…
- field-warehouse financing agreementThe loan agreement in a field-warehousing arrangement.
- fierding courtAn old court of limited jurisdiction, four of which sat in each district or hundred.
- fieriTo be made or done, used chiefly in the phrase in fieri, meaning in the course of being done.
- FIFOFirst in, first out: a method of valuing stock that assumes the earliest goods acquired are the first sold.
- FIFRAThe Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act.
- fifteenthA tax of a fifteenth of every subject's personal property, levied from time to time by act of Parliament. Under Edwar…
- Fifteenth AmendmentThe constitutional amendment, ratified in 1870, guaranteeing the right to vote regardless of race, color, or previous…
- Fifth AmendmentThe constitutional amendment, ratified with the Bill of Rights in 1791, providing that no one may be required to answ…
- Fifth Amendment, pleading theThe asserting of one's Fifth Amendment right not to incriminate oneself.
- Fifty DecisionsJustinian's rulings settling disputed points and sweeping away obsolete rules, made in preparation for his Digest.
- fighting ageThe age at which someone becomes eligible for military service, or liable to be conscripted.
- fighting wordsInflammatory speech that may fall outside the First Amendment's protection because it is likely to provoke a violent…
- filacerAn officer of the Westminster superior courts who filed the writs on which process was issued. The office was abolish…
- filaciumA thread or wire holding papers together to form a file, which was the old method of filing legal documents; also, an…
- fileA court's complete official record of a case; also, a lawyer's complete record of a case, or a part of it.
- file wrapperIn patent law, the complete record of proceedings in the Patent and Trademark Office from the first application to th…
- file-wrapper estoppelA cost that stays the same however much the business produces, such as rent, salaries, and depreciation.
- filed-rate doctrineA rule forbidding a regulated business, usually a common carrier, to charge any rate other than the one filed with th…
- filial consortiumThe society, affection, and companionship a child gives a parent.
- filiationThe state of being someone's son or daughter; a child's relationship to a parent.
- filibusterA delaying tactic, especially long and often irrelevant speech-making, used to block legislative action. It is common…
- filingA document, such as a pleading, lodged in the records of a court clerk or other record keeper.
- filing feeA sum that must be paid to the court clerk before a proceeding can begin.
- filing statusIn tax law, one of the four categories under which a person files an income-tax return: single, head of household, ma…
- filiolusA godson.
- filiusA son; also, descendants generally.
- filius mulieratusFormerly, the eldest legitimate son of a woman who had earlier borne an illegitimate son by the same father; a legiti…
- filius nulliusFormerly, an illegitimate child, regarded in law as nobody's son.
- filiusfamiliasA son or daughter, or grandchild, still under the father's power and not yet emancipated.
- fill-or-kill orderAn order that must be carried out in full the moment it reaches the trading floor, or else cancelled.
- filumA thread or wire holding papers together to form a file, which was the old method of filing legal documents; also, an…
- filum aquaeThe thread of the water: the imaginary line running down the middle of a stream, often used as a boundary.
- final appealable judgmentA court's final act settling the parties' rights and disposing of every issue in dispute, apart from awarding costs a…
- final appealable orderA court's final act settling the parties' rights and disposing of every issue in dispute, apart from awarding costs a…
- final argumentA lawyer's closing address to the judge or jury before deliberation, asking them to weigh the evidence and apply the…
- final concordA written agreement between parties to a lawsuit settling it in court with the court's approval.
- final decisionA court's final act settling the parties' rights and disposing of every issue in dispute, apart from awarding costs a…
- final decreeA court's final act settling the parties' rights and disposing of every issue in dispute, apart from awarding costs a…
- final injunctionAn injunction granted after a full hearing on the merits. Despite being called permanent, it does not necessarily las…
- final judgmentA court's final act settling the parties' rights and disposing of every issue in dispute, apart from awarding costs a…
- final orderAn order that disposes of the whole case.
- final peaceA written agreement between parties to a lawsuit settling it in court with the court's approval.
- final processThe writ or process by which a judgment is enforced, such as a writ of execution, as opposed to the process that begi…
- final settlementIn the law of wills, a court order discharging an executor's duties once the estate has been fully administered.
- final-decision ruleThe principle that a party may appeal only from a decision that finally ends the litigation on the merits, so that ev…
- final-judgment ruleThe principle that a party may appeal only from a decision that finally ends the litigation on the merits, so that ev…
- final-offer arbitrationArbitration in which each side must put forward its best and final offer, and the arbitrator must choose one of them…
- final-order doctrineThe rule that a court will not review an agency's action until that action is final.
- finalis concordiaA final or conclusive agreement.
- finality doctrineThe rule that a court will not review an agency's action until that action is final.
- finality ruleThe principle that a party may appeal only from a decision that finally ends the litigation on the merits, so that ev…
- financeThe management of money, credit, banking, and investments; also, the study of that management.
- finance billA bill of exchange drawn by a bank in one country on a bank in another to raise short-term credit. Such bills are oft…
- finance chargeAn extra payment, usually interest, that a retail buyer pays for the privilege of buying goods or services by install…
- finance companyA company other than a bank that deals in loans, either by making them or by buying notes from a company that lends d…
- finance leaseA fixed-term lease a business uses to finance capital equipment. The lessor does little but provide the money; the le…
- finances a private business facilityA tax-exempt municipal bond issued to finance a private business facility, usually a local industry.
- financial accountingThe recording of a business's transactions and the periodic sorting and summarizing of them to produce a set of finan…
- Financial Accounting Standards BoardThe independent body of accountants responsible for setting, interpreting, and improving the standards for financial…
- financial contractIn securities law, an individually negotiated agreement or option to buy, sell, lend, swap, or repurchase, of the kin…
- financial futuresStandardized assets such as commodities, shares, or foreign currencies bought or sold now for delivery at a future date.
- financial institutionA business or other body that manages money, credit, or capital, such as a bank, credit union, savings-and-loan assoc…
- financial intermediaryA financial body, usually a commercial bank, that helps money pass between borrowers and lenders, buyers and sellers,…
- financial plannerSomeone whose business is advising clients on their personal finances and investments. One who has completed a recogn…
- financial reportA balance sheet, income statement, or annual report summarizing a person's or organization's financial position on a…
- financial statementA balance sheet, income statement, or annual report summarizing a person's or organization's financial position on a…
- financial-responsibility actA state statute making the licensing and registration of vehicles conditional on proof of insurance or other means of…
- financial-responsibility clauseA clause in a motor policy stating that the insured carries at least the minimum liability cover the state's financia…
- financingThe raising or providing of funds; also, the funds so raised.
- financing agencyA bank, finance company, or similar body that, in the ordinary course of business, advances money against goods or do…
- financing statementA document filed in the public records to give notice to third parties, usually prospective buyers and lenders, that…
- finderAn intermediary who brings parties together for a business opportunity, such as two companies for a merger, a borrowe…
- finder of factOne or more people, such as jurors at a trial or an administrative-law judge at a hearing, who hear the testimony and…
- finding of factA determination by a judge, jury, or agency of a fact supported by the evidence in the record, usually presented at t…
- fineA friendly final agreement or compromise of a real or fictitious suit to settle who truly held land. It was once used…
- Fine and Recovery ActA statute of 1833 that abolished the use of fines as a way of conveying title to land.
- fine capiendo pro terrisA writ allowing someone to pay a fine in order to recover lands seized into the king's hands.
- fine for alienationA fee a tenant paid the lord on transferring a feudal estate and putting a new tenant in place. All tenants holding b…
- fine for endowmentA fee the widow of a tenant paid the tenant's lord. Without it she could not be endowed of her husband's land.
- fine printThe part of an agreement or document, usually set in small light type that is easy to overlook, containing disclaimer…
- fine pro redisseisina capiendoA writ entitling someone imprisoned for dispossessing another a second time to be released on paying a reasonable fine.
- fine sur concessitA form of conveyance in which the grantor does not acknowledge any earlier right in the other party but grants them a…
- fines le royThe king's fines: money paid to the monarch for an offense or a contempt.
- fingerInformally, to identify someone as the person who did something, usually a crime.
- fingerprintThe distinctive pattern of ridges on a human fingertip; also, the impression it leaves on a surface, or the inked imp…
- fingerprintingThe taking and comparing of fingerprints in order to identify a person.
- finireTo fine, or to pay a fine; also, to bring a matter to an end.
- finisA boundary or limit; also, the compromise embodied in a fine of conveyance, or a sum of money paid to settle a crimin…
- FIOFree in and out: a bill-of-lading term meaning the shipper supervises and pays for loading and unloading the cargo.
- FIOSFree in and out stowage: a shipping term meaning the vessel does not pay the costs of loading, unloading, or stowing.
- firdfareA summons to military service; also, an exemption from it.
- fireTo dismiss someone from employment.
- fire insuranceInsurance covering loss or damage to property caused by fire.
- fire ordealA primitive form of trial in which the accused underwent a dangerous or painful physical test, the outcome being take…
- fire saleA sale of goods at reduced prices because of fire or water damage; also, loosely, any sale at greatly reduced prices,…
- fire-boteAn allowance of wood from an estate for repairing a house or burning on its fire.
- firearmA weapon that fires a projectile, such as a bullet or shot, by the burning of gunpowder or another explosive.
- firebugInformally, someone who deliberately sets fires; an arsonist.
- firing squadA group assembled to carry out a death sentence by shooting the prisoner with rifles at the same moment from a short…
- firmThe name under which one or more people carry on business together; also, the association of people so united. The wo…
- firm bidA bid that by its own terms stays open and binding until it is accepted or rejected, and which carries no unusual con…
- firm offerAn offer containing a promise to keep it open for a stated period, during which withdrawing it would make the offeror…
- firm-commitment underwritingUnderwriting in which the underwriter agrees to buy the whole issue and bears the loss on anything it cannot sell. Th…
- firm-opportunity doctrineThe rule that a firm's partners may not use information gained in that capacity to take for themselves a business opp…
- firma feodiA tenure in which land is held forever at a yearly rent, without fealty, homage, or services beyond those named in th…
- firma noctisA night's entertainment, or a payment in lieu of it, owed by a tenant to the lord.
- firmaratioA tenant's right to the lands and buildings leased to them.
- firmariusSomeone entitled to take rents or profits.
- firmeLand and the buildings on it used for agriculture. In older usage the word meant rent, and by extension came to mean…
- firmitasAn assurance of a privilege given by deed or charter.
- First AmendmentThe constitutional amendment, ratified with the Bill of Rights in 1791, guaranteeing freedom of speech, religion, the…
- first chairInformally, the lead lawyer in court on a given case.
- first deviseeThe person first named in a will to take an estate under it.
- first fruitsFormerly, one year's profits from the land of a tenant in chief, payable to the Crown after the tenant's death; also,…
- first impression, case ofA case raising a legal question that has not been decided before in that jurisdiction.
- first instance, court ofThe court where a case starts and where the evidence is first heard and weighed.
- first lienA lien ranking ahead of every other charge on the same property, which must be paid in full before others take anythi…
- First Lord of the AdmiraltyIn Britain, the minister and one of the lord commissioners who presided over the navy, assisted by other lords, calle…
- First Lord of the TreasuryThe chief officer in charge of the treasury. The office is now held by the Prime Minister.
- first magistrateThe highest-ranking official in a government, such as a king in a monarchy, a president in a republic, or a governor…
- first meetingIn criminal law, the first contact between a killer and the victim after the killer learns of the insulting words or…
- first mortgageA mortgage ranking ahead of every other mortgage on the same property.
- first of exchangeThe first of a set of drafts drawn in duplicate or triplicate so that at least one will arrive safely. Accepting and…
- first offenderSomeone believed to have committed a crime but never convicted of one before. Such a person is often dealt with lenie…
- first option to buyA buyer's contractual right to be offered the property first, at a set price, if the seller decides to sell. If Beth…
- first policy yearIn insurance law, the first year of an annually renewed life policy. The phrase matters because an insurer may rely o…
- first purchaserThe ancestor who first acquired an estate that is still in the family.
- first refusal, right ofA buyer's contractual right to match the terms of a third party's offer that the seller intends to accept. If Beth ho…
- first takerSomeone who takes an estate that is subject to a remainder or an executory devise.
- first-blush ruleThe rule allowing a court to set aside a verdict as excessive because, at first sight, it must have come from the jur…
- first-degreeThe highest grade of an offense, marking the most serious level of guilt.
- first-degree murderMurder that is willful, deliberate, and premeditated, or committed in the course of another serious felony, often lim…
- first-filing ruleThe principle that where the same parties bring two suits on the same issues in two courts each having jurisdiction,…
- first-in, first-outAn accounting method that assumes goods are sold in the order they were bought, so that the oldest stock is treated a…
- first-mortgage bondA long-term bond having the first claim on specified assets.
- first-party insuranceA policy covering the holder or the holder's own property, such as life, health, disability, or fire insurance.
- first-sale doctrineIn copyright law, the rule that once the copyright owner has sold a particular copy of the work, they lose the exclus…
- first-to-file ruleThe principle that where the same parties bring two suits on the same issues in two courts each having jurisdiction,…
- firsthand knowledgeKnowledge gained by one's own observation or experience, as opposed to belief resting on what someone else has said.…
- fiscalTo do with financial matters, especially public finances or taxation.
- fiscal agentA bank or other financial institution that collects and pays out money and holds private and public funds on someone…
- fiscal officerThe person, such as a state or county treasurer, responsible for collecting and paying out public money; also, the of…
- fiscal yearAn accounting period of twelve consecutive months, often different from the calendar year, especially for tax purposes.
- fiscusThe public treasury; in Roman law, the emperor's own treasury, as opposed to the treasury of the state.
- fiseThe public treasury.
- fish royalWhales, sturgeon, and porpoises that become Crown property when cast ashore or caught near the English coast.
- fisheryThe right or liberty of taking fish. Under old English law it counted as an incorporeal hereditament.
- fishing expeditionAn attempt, through sweeping discovery requests or random questioning, to draw information out of another party in th…
- fistucaA rod or stick used as a pledge of good faith by a party to a contract, or as a token in conveying land.
- fithwiteA fine for fighting or breaking the peace.
- fitness for a particular purposeAn implied warranty that goods will serve the particular purpose the buyer has made known to the seller, where the bu…
- Five Mile ActA statute of 1665 barring Puritan ministers from teaching or coming within five miles of any town where they had held…
- fixA dose of an illegal drug; also, a navigational reading of a vessel's position.
- fix bailTo set the amount and terms of bail.
- fixationIn copyright law, the recording of a work in a tangible form, which is what makes it capable of copyright under feder…
- fixed annuityAn annuity guaranteeing payments of a fixed amount, either for life or for a set period.
- fixed assetA long-term asset used in running a business or producing goods or services, such as equipment, land, or a factory.
- fixed capitalThe money invested in fixed assets such as land and machinery; also, those assets themselves.
- fixed chargeA cost that stays the same however much the business produces, such as rent, salaries, and depreciation.
- fixed costA cost that stays the same however much the business produces, such as rent, salaries, and depreciation.
- fixed debtA permanent form of debt, usually evidenced by a bond or debenture; long-term borrowing.
- fixed expenseAn easement permitting aircraft to fly freely over the burdened land.
- fixed feeA fee that does not vary with the amount of work done or any other factor; in a construction contract, a set sum adde…
- fixed incomeMoney received at a constant rate, such as a pension or annuity payment.
- fixed liabilityA permanent form of debt, usually evidenced by a bond or debenture; long-term borrowing.
- fixed opinionA settled bias or prejudice that disqualifies someone from serving on a jury.
- fixed priceA price agreed between a wholesaler and a retailer for the later sale or resale of an item. Agreements to fix prices…
- fixed sentenceA sentence for a set length of time, with no discretion to shorten or lengthen it.
- fixed trustA trust in which the trustee has no discretion over how the trust is managed or how the property is distributed.
- fixed-benefit planA pension plan under which the employer promises each employee a set level of benefits.
- fixed-dollar investmentAn investment worth the same when sold as when bought, such as a bond held to maturity, certain government securities…
- fixed-income investmentAn investment, such as preferred stock, that pays a fixed dividend throughout its life and cannot be redeemed unless…
- fixed-income securityA security paying a fixed rate of return, such as a bond with a fixed interest rate or a preferred share with a fixed…
- fixed-price contractA contract in which the buyer agrees to pay a set price whatever happens to the seller's costs or to the market price…
- fixed-rate mortgageA mortgage whose interest rate stays the same for the whole of its life, whatever the market does.
- fixed-return dividendA dividend that stays the same throughout the life of the investment.
- fixing a juryThe unlawful securing of the cooperation of one or more jurors who then influence the outcome of the trial.
- fixturePersonal property attached to land or a building so as to become part of the real property, such as a fireplace built…
- fixture filingThe recording in the public land records of a security interest in personal property that is to become a fixture. The…
- FKAFormerly known as.
- flagA piece of cloth or other material bearing a distinctive design, used as a symbol or signal; also, the thing the flag…
- flag desecrationThe mutilating, defacing, burning, or flagrant misuse of a flag. In the United States it is protected as a form of fr…
- flag of convenienceIn international law, a national flag flown by a ship not because the ship or crew has any connection with that count…
- flag of truceIn international law, a white flag used to signal that one side wishes to communicate with the other in the field. Th…
- flag stateThe state under whose flag a ship sails. A ship may fly the flag of one state only.
- flagrante delictoIn the very act of committing the offense; caught red-handed.
- flash-of-genius ruleIn patent law, the now-abandoned rule that a device could not be patented if it came about through trial and error ra…
- flatWithout any allowance or charge for accrued interest.
- flat bondA bond that trades without accrued interest.
- flat cancellationThe cancellation of an insurance policy without any charge to the insured.
- flat moneyPaper currency that is money because the government declares it so, without any backing of gold or silver.
- flat reinsuranceReinsurance, especially of marine insurance, that cannot be cancelled or altered.
- flat sentenceA sentence for a fixed length of time rather than an open-ended one.
- flat taxA tax charged at the same rate however large the amount taxed. Most sales taxes work this way.
- flat timeA prison term to be served in full, without any reduction for good behavior or the like.
- fledwiteA release from the fine otherwise due from a fugitive who gives themselves up to the monarch; also, the fine a fugiti…
- flee from justiceThe act of fleeing, especially to avoid arrest or prosecution.
- fleet insuranceInsurance covering a number of vehicles owned by the same person or business.
- Fleet marriageA clandestine marriage performed without banns or license in or near the Fleet prison in London, common until the pra…
- flemene fritThe harboring or aiding of a fugitive.
- flemeswiteThe right to take, or the actual taking of, the goods and fines of a fugitive.
- flexdollarsMoney an employer gives an employee to spend on a choice of employee benefits.
- flexible constitutionA constitution that is not written down in a single distinct document and can be changed by ordinary legislation like…
- flexible-rate mortgageA mortgage whose interest rate the lender may adjust from time to time in line with movements in an external market i…
- flextimeA work schedule employees may vary at their own discretion, working different hours so long as they complete the requ…
- flexweekA four-day working week, usually made up of four ten-hour days.
- flightThe act of fleeing, especially to avoid arrest or prosecution.
- flight easementAn easement permitting aircraft to fly freely over the burdened land.
- flight from prosecutionThe act of fleeing, especially to avoid arrest or prosecution.
- flighwiteA release from the fine otherwise due from a fugitive who gives themselves up to the monarch; also, the fine a fugiti…
- flim flamA scheme by which someone is tricked out of money by first gaining their confidence.
- flipTo buy and quickly resell securities or property for a profit; also, to refinance consumer loans, or to turn state's…
- flip mortgageA graduated-payment mortgage letting the borrower put all or part of the down payment into a savings account and use…
- floatThe money represented by checks written but not yet cleared; also, the gap between a transaction and the withdrawal o…
- floatageGoods left floating on the sea after being abandoned or lost from a ship.
- floaterA note carrying a variable interest rate that is adjusted at intervals, usually every six months, within a set range…
- floater insuranceAn agreement to indemnify against loss of movable property wherever it may be within the area the policy covers.
- floatingNot fixed or settled; fluctuating.
- floating capitalMoney not tied to any particular class of a company's stock; also, money not currently invested or committed, especia…
- floating chargeA lien that extends to cover further property the debtor acquires while the debt is outstanding, and that survives ch…
- floating debtShort-term debt that is repeatedly renewed to finance the day-to-day running of a business or government.
- floating easementAn easement that, when created, is not tied to any particular part of the burdened land.
- floating lienA lien that extends to cover further property the debtor acquires while the debt is outstanding, and that survives ch…
- floating policyAn insurance policy covering property that often changes in quantity or location, such as jewelry.
- floating rateAn interest rate that varies with a financial index such as the prime rate.
- floating stockStock offered for sale on the open market and not yet bought; the number of outstanding shares available for trading.
- floating zoningZoning that creates a district on paper without fixing its boundaries, leaving it to settle on a particular site late…
- floating-interest bondA bond whose interest rate rises and falls with economic conditions.
- floating-rate noteA note carrying a variable interest rate that is adjusted at intervals, usually every six months, within a set range…
- flood insuranceInsurance against loss caused by flooding. It is often sold privately but subsidized by the federal government.
- floodplainLand liable to flooding because it is flat and lies close to a river or watercourse, especially level ground beside a…
- floodwaterWater that escapes a watercourse in large volumes and flows over neighboring land without keeping to any channel.
- floorThe central meeting place of a legislature where members sit and do business, as opposed to the galleries, corridors,…
- floor debateThe debating of a proposed bill before the whole chamber rather than before a committee.
- floor planningA loan secured on merchandise and repaid as the goods are sold, usually made by a manufacturer to a retailer such as…
- floor priceThe lowest price at which a seller will sell.
- floor taxA tax on distilled spirits held in a warehouse.
- floor-plan financingA loan secured on merchandise and repaid as the goods are sold, usually made by a manufacturer to a retailer such as…
- floor-plan ruleThe rule that an owner who places a vehicle for sale in a dealer's showroom cannot afterward deny the title of an inn…
- flotageGoods left floating on the sea after being abandoned or lost from a ship.
- flotation costThe cost of bringing a new issue of securities to market, including underwriting, legal, and accounting charges.
- floterial districtA legislative district made up of several separate districts or subdivisions, none of which would qualify for an extr…
- flotsamGoods left floating on the sea after being abandoned or lost from a ship.
- flowageThe natural flow of water from higher land to lower. It is a right of the owner above and a burden on the land below.
- flowage easementA common-law easement giving the owner of the benefited land the right to flood the burdened land, as where ground ne…
- flower bondA Treasury bond redeemable before maturity if used to pay federal estate tax. Such bonds were issued before April 197…
- FLSAA federal law of 1938 regulating minimum wages, overtime pay, and the employment of children.
- fluctuating clauseA clause raising or lowering the contract price to match changing market conditions, such as higher taxes or operatin…
- fly for itTo flee after allegedly committing a crime. It was once the custom in criminal trials to ask the jury, even after a v…
- fly-power assignmentA blank written assignment which, attached to a share certificate, makes the shares transferable.
- flymaAnother name for a fleme, a fugitive or outlaw.
- flyman frynthThe harboring or aiding of a fugitive.
- flymena fryntheThe harboring or aiding of a fugitive.
- flyspeckIn insurance law, a trivial possible defect in a land title, which a title insurer is likely to except from cover bef…
- FMCA federal agency regulating the waterborne foreign and domestic commerce of the United States.
- FMCSAn independent agency whose purpose is to prevent labor disputes from disrupting the flow of interstate commerce.
- FmHAA division of the U.S. Department of Agriculture that makes mortgage loans to farmers, insures home mortgages, and fu…
- FMVThe price a willing seller would accept and a willing buyer would pay on the open market, dealing at arm's length.
- FNMAA corporation chartered by the federal government but privately owned and run, which provides a secondary market for…
- FOBFree on board: a trade term meaning the seller must deliver the goods on board the named ship or other carrier, beari…
- FOB destinationA trade term meaning the seller bears the cost and risk of the goods until they reach the named destination.
- FOB shippingA trade term meaning the seller bears the cost and risk only until the goods are handed to the carrier at the place o…
- FOCIn international law, a national flag flown by a ship not because the ship or crew has any connection with that count…
- foedusIn international law, a treaty, league, or compact.
- foesting-menMen of substance, able to answer for themselves and stand as sureties.
- FOIAThe federal statute setting out the rules for public access to documents and materials created and held by federal ag…
- foiableInformally, of documents, open to disclosure under the Freedom of Information Act.
- folclandLand held by customary law, without any written title.
- folioFormerly, a leaf of paper or parchment numbered only on the front, so that a folio covers both sides of the leaf, its…
- folk lawsThe bodies of customary law of the Germanic peoples, written down after the fall of Rome.
- folklandLand held by customary law, without any written title.
- followTo conform to or comply with something; to accept it as authority.
- follow-the-fortunes doctrineIn insurance law, the rule that a reinsurer must reimburse the reinsured for claims it has settled, so long as its pa…
- follow-the-settlements doctrineIn insurance law, the rule that the party giving an indemnity must accept the actions of the party indemnified in adj…
- following-form policyA policy that takes over the terms and conditions of another policy.
- fons jurisA source of law: something such as a constitution, treaty, statute, or custom that provides the authority for legisla…
- Food and Drug AdministrationThe federal agency within the Department of Health and Human Services that sets safety and quality standards for food…
- Food, Drug, and Cosmetic ActA federal law of 1938 forbidding the carrying in interstate commerce of adulterated or misbranded food, drugs, or cos…
- foot acreA layer of coal one foot deep spread over one acre, used as a measure in valuing coal land for tax purposes.
- foot of the fineAt common law, the fifth and final part of a fine of conveyance, which summed up the whole matter by reciting the par…
- foot-frontage ruleIn property-tax assessment, a rule that measures a lot by its actual frontage on the line of improvement, so that the…
- footgeldIn forest law, a fine for failing to lame a dog so that it could not hunt, which was done by cutting the ball from it…
- footprintIn the law of evidence, the impression a foot or shoe leaves in soil, snow, or the like. In real-estate law it means…
- for account ofWords endorsed on a note or draft naming the person entitled to receive the proceeds.
- for causeFor a legal reason or ground. The phrase sets the usual standard for dismissing a civil servant or an employee under…
- for useFor the benefit of another.
- for-profit corporationA company set up to make a profit; a business corporation.
- Foraker ActThe federal law of 1900 that first gave Puerto Rico a civil government while keeping it outside the United States pro…
- foraneousTo do with a court or a marketplace.
- foraneusA foreigner, alien, or stranger.
- foratheIn forest law, someone who may swear an oath or give evidence on another's behalf.
- forbannitusA pirate or an outlaw; also, someone who has been banished.
- forbarreTo bar or preclude; to estop.
- forbatudusFormerly, someone who provokes a fight and is killed in it.
- forbearanceThe refraining from enforcing a right, obligation, or debt. Strictly, it means a deliberate holding back, whereas omi…
- forbidden degreeA relationship so close, as between brother and sister, that the law forbids marriage between the two. With slight va…
- forbidden departureA departure from the federal sentencing guidelines that is not allowed, being based on race, sex, national origin, cr…
- forcePower, violence, or pressure directed against a person or thing.
- force and armsWith force and arms: words used in common-law declarations of trespass and in indictments to show that the act compla…
- force and effectLegal effect. The phrase is now generally regarded as a redundant piece of legal jargon.
- force majeureAn event that could neither be foreseen nor controlled, taking in both acts of nature, such as floods and hurricanes,…
- force-majeure clauseA clause allocating the risk where performance becomes impossible or impracticable through an event the parties could…
- forced conversionThe conversion of a convertible security after it has been called for redemption, where what the holder would get by…
- forced exileCompelled removal or banishment from one's own country.
- forced heirSomeone whom the law entitles to a share of an estate whatever the will says.
- forced laborIn international law, work exacted from a person under threat of penalty, or work the person has not offered to do vo…
- forced portionThe part of a testator's property that the children, and sometimes other heirs, are entitled to by law whatever the w…
- forced resettlementIn international law, the compulsory moving of individuals or groups within a country's jurisdiction, whether inside…
- forced respiteA respite in which a court compels some creditors to allow the same extension of time that the others have agreed to.
- forced saleA hurried sale by a debtor brought on by financial hardship or a creditor's action.
- forced shareThe percentage of a deceased spouse's estate, fixed by statute, that a surviving spouse, and sometimes a child, may t…
- forcibleBrought about by force, or by the threat of force against opposition.
- forcible detainerThe wrongful keeping of property by someone who was lawfully in possession to begin with, often with threats or actua…
- forcible entryAt common law, the violent and unlawful taking of possession of land against the will of those entitled to it.
- forcible entry and detainerThe taking and keeping of land by force and without legal authority; also, the summary proceeding by which the person…
- forecloseTo bring a borrower's interest in property to an end; to subject property to foreclosure proceedings.
- foreclosureA proceeding brought by a lender to end a borrower's interest in property, either to take the title or to force a sal…
- foreclosure decreeA decree ordering a judicial sale on foreclosure; also, a decree ordering the strict foreclosure of a mortgage.
- foreclosure saleThe sale of mortgaged property, authorized by court decree or by a power of sale in the mortgage, to satisfy the debt.
- foregiftA premium paid for a lease on top of the rent.
- foregoerA royal purveyor: someone who bought provisions for the Crown at an appraised, and therefore reduced, price as the ro…
- forehand rentA premium a tenant paid on the granting of a lease, especially on renewal by a church corporation; more generally, re…
- foreignTo do with another country, or another jurisdiction.
- foreign administrationAn administration carried on alongside the main one at the place where the deceased lived, so that assets there can b…
- foreign administratorAn administrator appointed in another jurisdiction.
- foreign agentSomeone who registers with the federal government as a lobbyist acting for a foreign country or company.
- foreign apposerAn Exchequer officer who checked the sheriff's book of fines against the court records and questioned the sheriff abo…
- foreign assignmentAn assignment made in a foreign country or in another jurisdiction.
- foreign billA bill of exchange drawn in one state or country and payable in another.
- foreign bill of exchangeA draft drawn in one country or state but payable in another.
- foreign bondA bond issued in a currency other than that of the issuer's own country, such as a Canadian government bond denominat…
- foreign consulateA foreign country's consulate in the country where it is posted.
- foreign corporationA company chartered under the laws of another state, government, or country.
- foreign countyA county other than the one where the matter in question is being litigated, even where both lie within the same stat…
- foreign courtThe court of a foreign country; also, the court of another state.
- foreign creditorA creditor living in a different state or country from the debtor or the debtor's property.
- foreign divorceA divorce obtained outside the state or country where one of the spouses lives.
- foreign documentA document originating in, or drawn up or signed in, another state or country.
- foreign domicileA domicile a citizen or subject of one country establishes within the territory of another.
- foreign dominionA country that was once a foreign state but came under the British Crown by conquest or cession.
- foreign draftA draft drawn in one country or state but payable in another.
- foreign exchangeThe making of international money transactions, especially the converting of one currency into another; also, foreign…
- foreign guardianA guardian appointed in another state or country, as opposed to one appointed where the ward lives.
- foreign immunityThe protection a foreign state, its agents, and its bodies have against being sued in U.S. courts.
- foreign judgmentA judgment given by a court of a state or country other than the one where the judgment, or its effect, is in question.
- foreign jurisdictionThe powers of a court of another state or country; also, process reaching outside the forum, such as long-arm service.
- foreign juryA jury drawn from a jurisdiction other than the one in which the case is brought.
- foreign lawThe law of another country; in the conflict of laws, the law of another state or of a foreign country.
- foreign ministerA minister of foreign affairs, corresponding in many countries to the U.S. Secretary of State; also, an ambassador, m…
- foreign objectSomething found where it does not belong, especially something left inside a living body, such as a sponge left in a…
- foreign portA port lying wholly within another country's or state's jurisdiction; also, any port other than a vessel's home port.
- foreign serviceThe United States Foreign Service, the corps of diplomats and consular officers representing the country abroad. In f…
- foreign situs trustA trust created under the law of one country but administered, or holding its property, in another.
- Foreign Sovereign Immunities ActA federal statute giving individuals a right of action against foreign governments in certain circumstances, so far a…
- foreign stateA foreign country; also, a state of the Union other than the one under discussion.
- foreign substanceA substance found in a body, organism, or thing where it does not belong.
- foreign support orderA court order from another state or country requiring a party to make payments for the maintenance of a child or spou…
- foreign tax creditA credit against U.S. income tax for a taxpayer who earns income abroad and has paid foreign tax on it.
- foreign trade zoneA duty-free area within a country, meant to encourage trade, especially transshipment and processing, without the goo…
- foreign trustA trust created and administered under the law of another country.
- foreign vesselA vessel owned by residents of a foreign country, or sailing under its flag.
- foreign voyageA voyage to a port within the territory of another country. A voyage between two ports in the same foreign country st…
- foreign waterWater belonging to another nation or subject to another jurisdiction.
- foreign-earned-income exclusionThe Internal Revenue Code provision exempting from tax a limited amount of income earned abroad by a taxpayer living…
- foreign-exchange rateThe rate at which one country's currency is exchanged for another's.
- foreign-situs trustA trust owing its existence to foreign law, treated for tax purposes like a non-resident alien.
- forejudgeTo judge something beforehand; to prejudge it.
- foremanSomeone who directs the work of employees; an overseer or crew chief.
- forematronThe presiding juror on an all-woman jury.
- forensicSuited to a court of law or to public debate; also, argumentative. In older usage the word meant external or foreign.
- forensic engineeringThe use of engineering principles or analysis in a lawsuit, usually through an expert witness's evidence.
- forensic evidenceEvidence used in court, especially evidence obtained by scientific means, such as ballistic or medical evidence.
- forensic linguisticsThe technique of examining the linguistic features of written or spoken communications, usually to establish who prod…
- forensic medicineThe branch of medicine that establishes or interprets evidence from scientific or technical facts, as in determining…
- forensic pathologyThe branch of medicine that establishes or interprets evidence about diseases and disorders of the body, especially t…
- forensic servicesIn feudal law, the paying of extraordinary aids or the rendering of extraordinary military service.
- forensicsThe art of argument; also, the branch of law enforcement dealing with scientific evidence, such as that relating to f…
- forensisTo do with a court of law. An advocate, for instance, was sometimes called a homo forensis.
- forepersonThe juror who chairs the jury's deliberations and speaks for it in court in announcing the verdict, usually chosen by…
- foreseeabilityThe quality of being reasonably able to be anticipated. Together with actual causation, it makes up proximate cause i…
- foreseeable damagesDamages the party in breach knew of, or ought to have known of, when the contract was made.
- forestA tract of land, not necessarily wooded, reserved to the king or a grantee for hunting deer and other game.
- forestallTo prevent something from happening. In older usage it meant to obstruct someone on a royal highway, to keep a tenant…
- forestallerSomeone who forestalls; a person guilty of the offense of forestalling.
- forestalling the marketThe buying up of goods on their way to market, meaning to resell them at a higher price; also, the dissuading of sell…
- forestry rightA right over land allowing a person to enter it, plant and tend a crop of trees, harvest them, and put up whatever wo…
- forfeitureThe loss of property without compensation; the loss of a right, privilege, or property because of a crime, breach of…
- forfeiture clauseA clause providing that in stated circumstances one party must give something up to the other. Such clauses are often…
- forfeiture of marriageA penalty a lord exacted from a ward who married without his consent, amounting to twice what the marriage would othe…
- forfeiture of payIn military law, a punishment depriving the offender of all or part of their military pay.
- forgavelA small reserved rent in money; a quit-rent.
- forgeryThe fraudulent making of a false document, or the altering of a genuine one, so that it may be used as authentic. For…
- forinsec serviceThe feudal services owed by an intermediate lord, especially those of a military kind.
- forisbanitusA pirate or an outlaw; also, someone who has been banished.
- forisfacereTo forfeit an estate or other property, literally to make it foreign to oneself; also, to break the law, or to do som…
- forisfactusA criminal, especially someone who has forfeited their life by committing a capital offense.
- forisfamiliateTo free a son from paternal authority by a gift of land. Doing so usually made him ineligible to inherit anything fur…
- forisfamiliatedOf a son, freed from paternal authority and given a share of the family land in place of an inheritance.
- forisfamiliationFormerly, the freeing of a son from paternal authority by giving him a share of the family land.
- forisjudicatioA judgment depriving a person of something, or expelling them from court.
- forisjudicatusA judgment depriving a person of something, or expelling them from court.
- forisjurareTo forswear; to renounce something on oath.
- forjudgeFormerly, to expel someone, especially an officer or lawyer, from court for misconduct; also, to deprive a person of…
- forjudgerA judgment depriving a person of something; also, a judgment of expulsion or banishment.
- forjurerTo forswear; to renounce something on oath.
- forjurer royalmeFormerly, to renounce the kingdom on oath; to abjure the realm.
- formThe outward shape of something, as opposed to its substance; also, established procedure according to custom or rule,…
- Form 10-KThe annual report a public company must file with the Securities and Exchange Commission, setting out its financial c…
- Form 10-QThe quarterly report a public company must file with the Securities and Exchange Commission, giving unaudited financi…
- Form 8-KThe report a public company must file with the Securities and Exchange Commission when a major event occurs that shar…
- form of actionThe common-law procedural framework attached to a particular writ, each with its own forms of process, pleading, tria…
- Form S-1An SEC form a company must usually file before its securities can be listed and traded on a national exchange. Used m…
- formaThe prescribed form of judicial proceedings.
- forma et figura judiciiFormerly, the form and shape of a judgment; a form laid down by statute.
- forma pauperisAs a pauper: describing a poor litigant allowed to proceed without paying filing fees or court costs.
- formalFollowing established procedural rules, customs, and practices; also, ceremonial.
- formal agreementAn agreement that the law requires to be cast in some particular form as well as agreed to, failing which it is a nul…
- formal contractA written contract under seal, binding because of its form rather than because consideration was given.
- formal partyA party joined in a lawsuit only for form's sake, having no real interest in the outcome.
- formal rulemakingAgency rulemaking that, where a statute or the agency requires it, must be conducted on the record after a hearing, f…
- formalitiesSmall points of practice that, though they seem unimportant, must be observed to achieve a particular legal result. I…
- formata breviaWrits in settled and approved form, issued as a matter of course.
- formbookA book of sample legal documents, especially transactional ones such as contracts, deeds, leases, wills, trusts, and…
- formed designA settled and deliberate intention to kill, though not necessarily any particular person.
- formedonA writ of right by which a tenant in tail claimed entailed land held by another. It was the strongest remedy availabl…
- formedon in the descenderA writ of formedon brought by the issue in tail to recover possession of the land.
- formedon in the remainderA writ of formedon brought by a remainderman under a grant or gift in tail to recover possession of the land.
- formedon in the reverterA writ of formedon brought by the reversioner or the donor of the gift in tail to recover possession of the land.
- former acquittalA plea in bar at arraignment that the defendant has already been acquitted of the offense.
- former adjudicationA decision in an earlier action that finally settled the parties' rights or essential questions of fact, so that the…
- former jeopardyHaving already been prosecuted for the same offense. A defendant pleads it to tell the court they should not be tried…
- former punishmentIn military law, the rule that non-judicial punishment for a minor offense may bar a court-martial for the same offense.
- formulaIn Roman law, a written document a praetor prepared and sent to a judex, setting out the issue to be tried and the ju…
- formula dealAn agreement between a film distributor and a circuit of theaters to show a feature in all of them for a stated perce…
- formula instructionA jury direction meant to be the complete statement of the law on which the jury must base its verdict.
- formularyA collection of the forms of proceedings used in litigation, such as the writ forms kept by the Chancery.
- formulary procedureThe common-law method of pleading and practice, which required strict compliance with the accepted forms of action, s…
- fornicateTo have voluntary sexual intercourse outside marriage.
- fornicationVoluntary sexual intercourse between two unmarried people. It was not a crime at common law, but a few states have ma…
- forpriseAn exception or reservation, a word often used in leases and conveyances.
- forschelA strip of land next to a highway.
- forswearingThe repudiating or renouncing of something on oath; also, the deliberate making of materially false or misleading sta…
- fortaxedWrongly or extortionately taxed.
- forthcoming bondA bond guaranteeing that something will be produced at a particular time or when called for; also, a bond, usually gi…
- forthwithImmediately, without delay; also, promptly, within a reasonable time in the circumstances.
- fortiaForce, especially force an accessory uses to enable the principal to commit a crime; also, power, dominion, or jurisd…
- fortiorOf evidence, so strong that the burden of proof shifts to the other side.
- fortuitousHappening by chance. A fortuitous event may well be an unfortunate one; the word is neutral, despite being commonly m…
- fortuitous collisionA collision between two vessels occurring by accident, without fault on either side.
- fortuitous eventAn event that, happening only by chance or accident, the parties could not reasonably have foreseen.
- Fortune 500The annual list of the 500 largest U.S. corporations, published in and named after Fortune magazine.
- fortyForty acres of land in a square. It is arrived at by quartering a section of 640 acres and quartering one of those qu…
- forty-days courtA lower forest court dealing with trespasses in the royal forests. Its judges, the verderers, met every forty days to…
- forumA public place, especially one used for assembly or debate; also, a court or other judicial body, or a place of juris…
- forum conveniensA suitable forum: a court in which a case may conveniently and properly be heard.
- forum domesticumFormerly, a domestic court, deciding matters such as professional discipline arising within the organization that set…
- forum inconveniensIn civil procedure, the rule that a court, though it has jurisdiction, may decline to exercise it where, for the conv…
- forum non conveniensIn civil procedure, the rule that a court, though it has jurisdiction, may decline to exercise it where, for the conv…
- forum reiThe forum of the defendant: the place where the defendant is domiciled or lives. In older usage it also meant the pla…
- forum rei gestaeFormerly, the court of the place where the act complained of was done, taken as a place of jurisdiction.
- forum rei sitaeFormerly, the court of the place where the thing in dispute is situated, taken as a place of jurisdiction.
- forum stateIn the conflict of laws, the state in which the suit is filed.
- forum-selection clauseA clause by which the parties fix the place, such as a particular country, state, or type of court, where any dispute…
- forum-shoppingThe practice of choosing the jurisdiction or court most favorable to one's case, as by filing where juries are known…
- forum-shopping clauseA clause by which the parties fix the place, such as a particular country, state, or type of court, where any dispute…
- forward agreementAn agreement to buy or sell a particular non-standardized asset, usually a currency, at a fixed price on a future dat…
- forward and backward at seaIn marine insurance, from port to port during a voyage, rather than merely out to the far end and back.
- forward contractAn agreement to buy or sell a particular non-standardized asset, usually a currency, at a fixed price on a future dat…
- forward marketA market in which futures contracts are traded; a market for trades negotiated at today's price but calling for deliv…
- forward triangular mergerA merger in which the target company is absorbed into a subsidiary of the acquiring company, the target's shareholder…
- forwarding agentA person or firm whose business is receiving and shipping goods for others, including a freight-forwarder who combine…
- fossaA ditch or pit of water in which a woman convicted of a felony was drowned.
- fosterOf a relationship, involving parental care given by someone who is not a blood relative; also, of a person, giving or…
- foster careA scheme providing parental care for children in place of care by their birth or adoptive parents; also, the branch o…
- foster childA child whose care and upbringing are entrusted to an adult who is not the child's natural or adoptive parent.
- foster fatherA man who, without blood or legal ties, cares for and brings up a child, especially one orphaned or neglected. Foster…
- foster homeA household providing foster care to a child taken from their natural parents, usually because of abuse or neglect. I…
- foster motherAn adult who raises and cares for a child without any blood or legal tie, above all an orphaned or neglected child wh…
- foster parentAn adult who, without blood or legal ties, cares for and brings up a child, especially one orphaned or neglected. Fos…
- foster-care placementThe usually temporary placing of a child in a home with someone who will provide parental care.
- foster-care review boardA board that reviews the long-term plans for children placed in foster care after neglect or abuse.
- fosterageThe caring for another's child; also, the entrusting of a child to another, or the state of being in another's care.
- fosterleanPayment made to someone for bringing up a foster child.
- fosterlingA child whose care and upbringing are entrusted to an adult who is not the child's natural or adoptive parent.
- foul bill of ladingA bill of lading showing on its face that the goods were damaged, or that some were missing, when shipped.
- foundationThe basis on which something rests, especially evidence establishing that other evidence may be admitted; also, a fun…
- foundational factA fact from which a presumption or inference arises.
- founded onHaving as its basis.
- founderSomeone who founds or establishes something, especially a person who provides the funds for an institution's future n…
- founding fatherA prominent figure in the founding of an institution or a country, particularly one who played a leading part in foun…
- foundling hospitalA charitable institution, found especially in Europe, for the care of abandoned children.
- four cornersThe face of a written document. The phrase comes from the old practice of writing an instrument on a single sheet of…
- four unitiesThe four things needed to create a joint tenancy at common law: unity of interest, possession, time, and title.
- four-corners ruleThe principle that a document's meaning is to be gathered from the whole document rather than from isolated parts, an…
- four, rule ofThe convention that the U.S. Supreme Court will grant certiorari only if four justices vote in favor.
- Fourteenth AmendmentThe constitutional amendment, ratified in 1868, whose main provisions in effect apply the Bill of Rights to the state…
- Fourth AmendmentThe constitutional amendment, ratified with the Bill of Rights in 1791, forbidding unreasonable searches and seizures…
- fourth estateThe press, taken as a body. The name comes from the reporters' gallery of the British Parliament, whose influence was…
- fourth-sentence remandIn a social-security benefits claim, a court's decision affirming, reversing, or modifying the Commissioner's decisio…
- FPAFree from particular average: a marine-insurance term excluding partial losses from cover.
- fractionalOf a tract of land, covering less than the acreage a survey shows; describing any irregular division of land holding…
- fractional currencyPaper money worth less than a dollar, especially the notes the federal government issued between 1863 and 1876.
- FragmentaPassages taken from the writings of the Roman jurists and gathered into Justinian's Digest.
- fragmented literal similarityIn copyright law, similarity shown by the copying of passages of the protected work word for word.
- frameTo plan, shape, or draw up something, especially a document; also, to make an innocent person appear guilty by using…
- frame-upA plot to make an innocent person appear guilty.
- francbordusA narrow strip of land, usually about 24 feet wide and lying just outside a fence, which the owner of the fenced land…
- franchiseThe right to vote; also, a right granted by government to carry on a particular business or to exercise corporate pow…
- franchise agreementThe contract between franchisor and franchisee setting out the terms of the franchise relationship. State and federal…
- franchise appurtenant to landRarely, a franchise used in connection with land and therefore sometimes treated as real property.
- franchise clauseIn insurance law, a clause providing that the insurer will pay a claim only if it exceeds a stated amount, the insure…
- franchise courtA privately held court, usually existing under a royal grant, whose reach depended on the grant and on whatever power…
- franchise feeA fee a franchisee pays the franchisor for franchise rights, regulated by state law; also, a fee paid to the governme…
- franchise taxA tax on the privilege of carrying on business, especially as a corporation, usually measured by the business's income.
- franchiserSomeone who grants a franchise.
- francigenaSomeone born in France; also, any foreigner in England.
- francus bancusA widow's, and occasionally a widower's, interest in the deceased spouse's estate, giving the survivor a half interes…
- francus tenensA freeholder.
- frankFree.
- frank bankA widow's, and occasionally a widower's, interest in the deceased spouse's estate, giving the survivor a half interes…
- frank fermAn estate in land held in socage, the tenure having been changed from knight service by a grant in return for fixed y…
- frank-chaseFree chase: the right to hunt or take timber within a defined area, others holding land within it being forbidden to…
- frank-feeFreehold land, held to oneself and one's heirs, free of every service except homage; land held otherwise than by anci…
- frank-lawThe rights and privileges of a freeman, in particular the standing to give an oath as a juror or witness.
- frank-tenantA freeholder.
- frank-tenementA free tenement, or freehold, describing both the tenure and the estate.
- frankalmoinA spiritual tenure by which a religious house held land, usually in return for an unenforceable duty to pray for the…
- franking privilegeThe right of members of Congress and certain officials to send mail free of postage on official business.
- franklinA freeman or freeholder; a gentleman.
- frankmarriageAn entailed estate in which the donor kept control of the land by refusing to take feudal services from the donee, us…
- frankpledgeA pledge given to the sovereign by a group of ten freeholders for the good conduct of them all. Saxon in origin, it s…
- Franks hearingA hearing to decide whether a police officer's affidavit used to obtain a search warrant, which then yielded incrimin…
- FRAPThe rules governing appeals to the U.S. courts of appeals from lower courts and certain agency proceedings, and appli…
- frater consanguineusA brother or half-brother by the same father.
- frater nutriciusA brother born outside marriage.
- frater uterinusA brother or half-brother by the same mother.
- fraternalTo do with brothers; also, to do with a fraternity or a fraternal benefit association.
- fraternal benefit associationA voluntary society formed for the mutual aid and benefit of its members rather than for profit, its members sharing…
- fraternal insuranceLife or health insurance a fraternal benefit society issues to its members.
- fraternal lodgeA local branch of a fraternal society, with its own officers and ritual.
- fraternal orderA voluntary society formed for the mutual aid and benefit of its members rather than for profit, its members sharing…
- fraternal societyA voluntary society formed for the mutual aid and benefit of its members rather than for profit, its members sharing…
- fraternityA voluntary society formed for the mutual aid and benefit of its members rather than for profit, its members sharing…
- fratres conjuratiFormerly, sworn brothers or companions bound together for the defense of their sovereign or for some other purpose.
- fratriageA younger brother's share of his father's estate. Under feudal law he owed homage to the elder brother for it, even t…
- fratricideThe killing of one's brother or sister; also, the person who does so.
- fraudA knowing misstatement of the truth, or the hiding of a material fact, made to induce another to act to their disadva…
- fraud in contemplation of lawDeception or misrepresentation that injures someone even though it was not meant to deceive; fraud the law treats as…
- fraud in factA hiding of the truth or a false statement, made by words or conduct, that injures someone who relies on it.
- fraud in lawFraud the law presumes from the circumstances, as where a debtor transfers assets and so hampers creditors trying to…
- fraud in the executionFraud occurring where the document actually signed is different from the one the signer meant to sign, or where it ha…
- fraud in the factumFraud occurring where the document actually signed is different from the one the signer meant to sign, or where it ha…
- fraud in the inducementFraud occurring where a misrepresentation leads someone into a transaction with a false idea of the risks or obligati…
- fraud in the makingFraud occurring where the document actually signed is different from the one the signer meant to sign, or where it ha…
- fraud on creditorsA transfer of property for little or nothing in return, made to hinder or delay a creditor by putting the property be…
- fraud on the courtMisconduct by a lawyer or party in a case so serious that it undermines, or is meant to undermine, the integrity of t…
- fraud on the marketFraud occurring where an issuer puts out false information that affects the market price of its shares, so that buyer…
- fraud-on-the-market principleIn securities law, the rule that a claimant under the federal antifraud provisions may be presumed to have relied on…
- fraud, badge ofA circumstance the courts generally treat as a reliable sign that a party was trying to hinder or defraud another, su…
- fraudareTo defraud.
- fraudeIn civil law, fraud committed in performing a contract.
- fraudfeasorSomeone who has committed fraud.
- frauds, statute ofThe statute requiring certain kinds of contract, such as those for the sale of land, to be in writing and signed befo…
- fraudulentInvolving fraud; dishonest. The word has been used more widely and less precisely in equity than at common law, where…
- fraudulent actConduct involving bad faith, dishonesty, a lack of integrity, or moral turpitude.
- fraudulent alienationThe transfer of property meant to defraud others, especially creditors.
- fraudulent alieneeSomeone who takes an asset knowing that it is being transferred fraudulently.
- fraudulent bankingThe taking of a deposit by a banker who knew the bank was insolvent at the time.
- fraudulent claimA false insurance claim.
- fraudulent concealmentThe deliberate hiding of a material fact that one is legally, or sometimes morally, bound to disclose, done in order…
- fraudulent conversionConversion carried out by fraud, whether in getting hold of the property or in keeping it.
- fraudulent conveyanceA transfer of property for little or nothing in return, made to hinder or delay a creditor by putting the property be…
- fraudulent debtA debt incurred by fraud, which for that reason is usually not discharged in bankruptcy.
- fraudulent joinderThe joining of a party in bad faith, usually a resident of the state, so as to prevent a case being removed to federa…
- fraudulent misrepresentationA false statement made knowing it to be false, or made recklessly without caring whether it is true, and intended to…
- fraudulent or dishonest actConduct involving bad faith, dishonesty, a lack of integrity, or moral turpitude.
- fraudulent pretensesThe crime of knowingly obtaining title to another's property by misrepresenting a fact, meaning to defraud. Modern Am…
- fraudulent representationA false statement made knowing it to be false, or made recklessly without caring whether it is true, and intended to…
- fraudulent saleA sale made to defraud the seller's creditors by turning into cash property that ought to go toward meeting their cla…
- fraudulent transferA transfer of property for little or nothing in return, made to hinder or delay a creditor by putting the property be…
- fraudulent-concealment ruleThe rule that where a defendant's conduct prevents a claimant from discovering that they have a claim, the limitation…
- frausDeceit or cheating. A debtor who conveyed property with the deliberate purpose of defrauding a creditor risked having…
- frayThe fighting of two or more people by mutual consent in a public place, to the alarm of onlookers. The fighting must…
- FRBThe board that supervises the Federal Reserve System and sets national monetary and credit policy. It has seven membe…
- FRCPThe Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, governing civil actions in the U.S. district courts.
- FREThe rules governing what may be received in evidence at trials in the federal courts.
- Freddie MacA corporation that buys both conventional and federally insured first mortgages from members of the Federal Reserve S…
- freeHaving legal and political rights and enjoying civil liberty; not subject to another's control; acting by choice rath…
- free agencyA professional athlete's freedom to negotiate a contract with any team in the league rather than being tied to one. I…
- free agentA professional athlete who is free to negotiate a contract with any team in the league.
- free almsA spiritual tenure by which a religious house held land, usually in return for an unenforceable duty to pray for the…
- free alongside shipA trade term meaning that the seller must deliver the goods to the dock and pay the cost of getting them there. Once…
- free and clearFree of any liens or encumbrances; marketable.
- free and common socageSocage in which the services owed were both fixed and honorable. A statute of 1660 converted almost all tenures by kn…
- free and equalOf an election, conducted so that the voters have a real chance to vote and every vote counts the same.
- free benchA widow's, and occasionally a widower's, interest in the deceased spouse's estate, giving the survivor a half interes…
- free chapelIn church law, a church founded by the Crown, or by someone under royal grant, and not subject to the bishop's jurisd…
- free cityIn international law, a state-like territory that is independent in principle but lacks the full capacity to act unde…
- free electionAn election in which the political system guarantees that each voter may vote according to conscience.
- free enterpriseA private and consensual system of production and distribution, usually carried on for profit in a competitive settin…
- Free Exercise ClauseThe First Amendment provision barring government from interfering with people's religious practice or worship.
- free fisheryAn exclusive right of fishing in public water such as a river or an arm of the sea, held by grant from the monarch or…
- free iceIce in navigable streams that belongs neither to the riverside owner nor to anyone with a right to take it, and so be…
- free lawThe civil rights a freeman enjoyed, as opposed to a serf. They could be forfeited on conviction of treason or an infa…
- free marketA market in which anyone may buy or sell, and in which prices and the availability of goods are settled by free compe…
- free of all averageInsurance covering a total loss only, and not partial losses.
- free on boardFree on board: a trade term meaning the seller must deliver the goods on board the named carrier, bearing the risk of…
- free portA port lying outside a country's customs frontier, so that goods may be brought in free of import duty and without cu…
- free riderSomeone who takes an economic benefit at another's expense without contributing to the cost of providing it.
- free socageSocage in which the services owed were both fixed and honorable. A statute of 1660 converted almost all tenures by kn…
- free tradeThe open import and export of goods without barriers such as quotas or protective tariffs, apart from charges levied…
- free warrenA right of warren giving the grantee the sole right to take game within the area covered.
- free-bordA narrow strip of land, usually about 24 feet wide and lying just outside a fence, which the owner of the fenced land…
- free-trade zoneA duty-free area within a country, meant to encourage trade, especially transshipment and processing, without the goo…
- freedomThe state of being free; also, a political right.
- freedom of assemblyThe First Amendment right of the people to gather peacefully to express views on religion, politics, or grievances.
- freedom of associationThe right to join with others in a group of one's choosing. Government may not stop outsiders from joining an associa…
- freedom of choiceThe liberty involved in exercising one's rights; in school desegregation it means the chance for parents to choose th…
- freedom of contractThe principle that people may bind themselves legally as they choose, and that contracts rest on mutual agreement and…
- freedom of expressionThe freedoms of speech, press, assembly, and religion guaranteed by the First Amendment, and the bar on government in…
- Freedom of Information ActThe federal statute setting out the rules for public access to documents and materials created and held by federal ag…
- freedom of petitionThe First Amendment right of the people to make formal requests of government, whether by lobbying or by writing to p…
- freedom of religionThe right to hold any religion or none, to practice or not practice religious belief, and to be free of government in…
- freedom of speechThe right to express one's thoughts and opinions without government restriction, guaranteed by the First Amendment.
- freedom of the cityAn immunity or privilege held under royal charter, especially exemption from county jurisdiction and the right of mun…
- freedom of the pressThe right to print and publish without government interference, guaranteed by the First Amendment.
- freedom of the seasIn international law, the principle that the seas beyond territorial waters are subject to no country's control. Ship…
- freeholdAn estate in land held in fee simple, in fee tail, or for life; also, the tenure by which such an estate is held.
- freehold estateAn estate in land held in fee simple, in fee tail, or for life. At common law all of these were created by enfeoffmen…
- freehold interestAn interest in land amounting to a freehold, that is, one of uncertain duration held in fee or for life.
- freeholderSomeone who holds a freehold.
- freemanSomeone who has all the civil and political rights of a citizen under a free government; also, a person who is not a…
- freezeA period during which the government restricts or halts certain commercial activity.
- freeze outTo subject someone to a freeze-out; also, to shut out a business competitor.
- freeze-outIn company law, the process, usually in a closely held company, by which the majority shareholders or the board squee…
- freeze-out mergerA merger in which the shareholders of the target company must take cash for their shares.
- freezeeA person or company subjected to a freeze-out.
- freightGoods carried by water, land, or air; also, the payment made to a carrier for carrying them.
- freight absorptionA seller's practice of paying the cost of delivery itself rather than charging it to the buyer, so that the price is…
- freight forwarderA person or business whose trade is receiving and shipping goods for others, especially one who combines small consig…
- freight rateThe rate a carrier charges for carrying cargo, usually based on weight, volume, or quantity, and sometimes on the val…
- freighting voyageA voyage in which a vessel carries cargo between terminal points.
- frenchmanA stranger or foreigner. In early English law the word was applied to all foreigners, not only those from France.
- freshRecent; not stale; done without any material interval.
- fresh complaintA reasonably prompt complaint, especially a victim's early report of a sexual assault to someone they trust.
- fresh disseisinThe right at common law of someone put out of their land to eject the intruder by force without going to law, provide…
- fresh forceForce newly used against someone's possession of land, such as a recent disseisin or ouster. In old English town law,…
- fresh pursuitAn officer's power to chase a fleeing suspect without a warrant, to cross jurisdictional lines to make the arrest, an…
- fresh startIn bankruptcy, the clean financial slate a debtor gets when the court wipes out personal liability for debts run up b…
- fresh-complaint ruleThe idea that a sexual-assault victim's account is more believable if the victim reported the attack soon after it ha…
- Friday marketThe tendency of stock prices to slip on Fridays, because many investors square their accounts before the weekend rath…
- friend of the courtSomeone who is not a party to a case but files a brief in it, either by asking the court's permission or at the court…
- friendly fireA fire burning where it was meant to burn but still causing damage nobody intended. The phrase also describes gunfire…
- friendly societyIn Britain, a voluntary association funded by members' subscriptions that pays benefits to members who fall ill and t…
- friendly suitA lawsuit the parties have agreed in advance to let the court decide. Parties who have already settled often file one…
- friendly suitorA person or company that rescues the target of a hostile takeover, usually by buying a controlling stake or by making…
- friendly takeoverA takeover that the target company's board of directors approves.
- fringe benefitA benefit an employee receives from an employer over and above salary, such as insurance, a company car, or a tuition…
- friskA pat-down of a person's outer clothing to check for a hidden weapon.
- frivolousHaving no basis in law or fact; not serious, and serving no reasonable purpose.
- frivolous appealAn appeal with no legal basis, usually filed to buy time, to pressure the winner into settling, or to put off paying…
- frivolous defenseA defense with no basis in fact or law.
- frivolous suitA lawsuit with no legal basis, often brought to harass the defendant or squeeze money out of them.
- FRMFixed-rate mortgage: a mortgage whose interest rate stays the same for the life of the loan, whatever the market does.
- frolicIn tort law, an employee's major detour from the employer's business for personal reasons. Because a frolic falls out…
- frontThe side of a building or lot that faces outward, toward a street, a lake, or the ocean, or that holds the main entra…
- front footOne foot of a property's street frontage, used as the unit for working out a frontage assessment.
- front moneyThe cash needed to get a business venture started.
- front wagesPay awarded to a victim of job discrimination to cover the stretch of time until the job they were denied becomes ava…
- front-end moneyThe cash needed to get a business venture started.
- front-foot ruleThe rule that the cost of an improvement is split among nearby properties according to how much street frontage each…
- frontageThe part of a piece of land that touches a street or highway, or that lies between a building's front and the street.…
- frontage assessmentA charge a city puts on a property owner for local improvements running along the property's street edge, such as sid…
- frontagerA person who owns or occupies land bordering a highway, river, seashore, or the like.
- frozen accountAn account at a bank or other institution to which access has been restricted, whether by the government or by someon…
- frozen assetAn asset that cannot easily be turned into cash because a court order or other legal process stands in the way.
- frozen depositA bank deposit that cannot be withdrawn, as where the institution holding it has become insolvent.
- fructuariusIn Roman and civil law, a person who holds the usufruct of something: the right to use land or animals and take what…
- fructusIn Roman and civil law, what land and animals naturally produce, and the profit or increase that comes from them.
- fructus naturalesWhat land and plants grow on their own, together with the young of animals. The law treats them as part of the real p…
- frugesIn Roman and civil law, produce or crops that people eat.
- fruitWhat something yields, such as the produce of land or property. In civil law, income or goods that come from property…
- fruit-and-the-tree doctrineIn tax law, the rule that a person who earns income cannot escape tax on it by assigning it to someone else.
- fruit-of-the-poisonous-tree doctrineIn criminal procedure, the rule that evidence found because of an illegal search, arrest, or interrogation cannot be…
- fruits of a crimeWhat a criminal gains from committing the crime.
- frustrationThe blocking or hindering of something someone set out to achieve, such as performance of a contract.
- Frye testThe old federal rule for admitting scientific evidence: the technique had to be generally accepted in its own scienti…
- FSIAForeign Sovereign Immunities Act: the federal statute that shields foreign governments from suit in United States cou…
- FSLICFederal Savings and Loan Insurance Corporation: a federal agency set up in 1934 to insure deposits at savings-and-loa…
- FSTField sobriety test: a coordination test an officer gives at the roadside to judge whether a driver is drunk. It usua…
- FTCFederal Trade Commission: the independent agency created in 1914 to enforce the antitrust laws and to stop false, dec…
- FTCAFederal Tort Claims Act: the statute that lifts part of the federal government's immunity and lets people sue in fede…
- fuerFlight from the law.
- fuer in faitActual flight from the law, where the accused physically runs.
- fuer in leyFlight in the eyes of the law. If the accused failed to show up when summoned, the law counted that absence as flight.
- fugereFlight from the law.
- fugere in factaActual flight from the law, where the accused physically runs.
- fugere in legeFlight in the eyes of the law. If the accused failed to show up when summoned, the law counted that absence as flight.
- fugitationA ruling declaring an accused person a fugitive for ignoring a summons to appear. The person then forfeited their goo…
- fugitiveSomeone who runs away or escapes, including a refugee. In criminal law, a suspect who dodges arrest, prosecution, or…
- Fugitive Felon ActThe federal statute making it a felony to cross state lines to escape prosecution or imprisonment for a state felony,…
- fugitive from justiceA person who commits a crime in one state and then leaves it to avoid arrest, prosecution, or punishment.
- fugitive warrantA warrant letting police arrest someone who has fled from one state to another to escape prosecution or punishment.
- fugitive-disentitlement doctrineThe rule of fairness that lets a trial or appeals court cut off a fugitive's use of American civil and criminal court…
- fugitive-dismissal ruleThe rule that an appeals court may throw out a criminal defendant's appeal if the defendant has fled.
- fugitive-slave lawsFederal statutes of 1793 and 1850 requiring that enslaved people who escaped to a free state or territory be seized a…
- fugitivusIn Roman law, a runaway, especially an enslaved person who had fled.
- fugueAn abnormal state of mind in which a person appears to act normally but, once it passes, remembers nothing of what th…
- full benchA sitting at which every judge of the court takes part.
- full bloodThe relationship between people who have both parents in common.
- full cash valueA property's market value for tax purposes, worked out by standard appraisal methods.
- full copyIn equity practice, a complete copy of a pleading, including every indorsement and all exhibits.
- full courtA sitting attended by all the judges of the court; a court sitting en banc.
- full cousinThe child of one's aunt or uncle.
- full coverageInsurance that pays the whole of a loss, with nothing deducted.
- full defenseA technical common-law plea of defense, set out at length and without abbreviation. Modern pleading rules in the fede…
- full disclosureA complete revelation of every material fact.
- full faith and creditOne state's duty to honor and enforce another state's laws and court judgments.
- Full Faith and Credit ClauseThe provision of the United States Constitution, article IV, section 1, requiring every state to recognize the public…
- full hearingA court session, usually open to the public, held to settle questions of fact or law, sometimes with witnesses giving…
- full indorsementAn indorsement that names the person the instrument is now payable to, so that only that person can pass it on.
- full interdictionThe complete stripping of a person's power to look after themselves, their affairs, or their property, because of men…
- full nameA person's first name, middle name or initial, and surname.
- full pardonA pardon that frees the offender from punishment and restores their civil rights with no conditions attached.
- full partnerA partner who takes part in running the business day to day, shares in the profits and losses, and is personally liab…
- full payout leaseA fixed-term lease a business uses to finance equipment, where the rent over the term repays the lessor's whole outla…
- full performanceCarrying out a contractual duty completely, which normally frees the performer from any further liability.
- full powersIn international law, an official document naming someone to act for a country: to negotiate, adopt, or authenticate…
- full proofIn civil law, proof by two witnesses or by an official document. The phrase also describes evidence that convinces th…
- full rightGood title and actual possession held together by the same person.
- full settlementA settlement that closes and releases every claim outstanding between the parties.
- full valueThe price a willing seller will take and a willing buyer will pay in an open, arm's-length deal: the point where supp…
- full warrantyA warranty covering both parts and labor for repairs. Federal law requires the warrantor, once told of a defect or ma…
- full-covenant-and-warranty deedA deed containing covenants of title, especially one in which the seller expressly guarantees good, clear title and g…
- full-crew lawA law setting the number of employees a railroad must have on hand to run a train.
- full-faith-and-credit bondA municipal bond payable out of general revenue rather than a special fund, backed by nothing but the issuer's power…
- full-paid stockStock for which the issuing company can demand no further payment.
- full-reporting clauseAn insurance clause requiring the policyholder to report the value of the insured property and cutting the payout if…
- full-service leaseA lease in which the lessor covers maintenance, insurance premiums, and property taxes.
- fully administeredAn executor's or administrator's plea that they have lawfully dealt with everything in the estate and that nothing is…
- fully diluted earnings per shareA company's net income divided by the number of common shares that would be outstanding if every convertible security…
- fully fundedHolding enough money to cover current payments even if bankruptcy strikes; also, having met a funding obligation in f…
- fully managed fundA mutual fund whose rules let its managers use broad discretion over which securities to trade, in what mix and what…
- fully paid face-amount certificateA face-amount certificate bought outright with a single payment rather than in installments, entitling the holder to…
- functionThe activity that belongs to a particular business or profession; also an office, a duty, or the work an office invol…
- functional depreciationLoss of value in equipment that is not worn out but has been overtaken by a new invention or improved machinery that…
- functional discountA supplier's price discount reflecting the role the buyer plays in the supplier's distribution system, such as wareho…
- functional diseaseA disease that stops or interferes with an organ's working without any anatomical defect in the organ itself.
- functional featureIn trademark law, a design element needed to build the article or to make a product that will sell: an attribute esse…
- functional obsolescenceLoss of value caused either by shortcomings built into the property, such as poor design or inadequate equipment, or…
- functionalityIn trademark law, a shape, layout, design, or color so much better than the alternatives that letting the first user…
- fundA pool of money or other liquid assets set aside for a particular purpose.
- fund in courtDisputed money placed in the court's keeping; also money paid in to cover a liability that may or may not arise.
- fundamental errorAn error so obvious and damaging that an appeal court should deal with it even though no proper objection was made at…
- fundamental interestAn interest so important, such as voting, moving from state to state, or private decisions about marriage and family,…
- fundamental lawThe basic law that lays down how a nation or state is governed, above all its constitution.
- fundamental rightA right that flows from natural or basic law. In constitutional law, a freedom so central that courts test any govern…
- fundamental termA contract provision without which there is no contract at all, or one stating an essential purpose of the deal, so t…
- fundamental trendThe stock market's long-run direction: a broad rise or fall in prices over an extended period.
- fundamental-fairness doctrineThe rule that due-process principles govern how a court runs a case. Most lawyers treat the phrase as another way of…
- fundamental-miscarriage-of-justice exceptionThe rule letting a federal court hearing a habeas corpus petition consider a constitutional claim it would otherwise…
- fundatioThe founding of a corporation, particularly a charitable one.
- fundedHolding enough money to cover current payments even if bankruptcy strikes; also, having met a funding obligation in f…
- funded debtA state or municipal debt to be paid out of accumulated money or future taxes; also, secured long-term corporate borr…
- fundingPaying for capital spending by issuing long-term debt, or turning short-term obligations into long-term ones to cover…
- funds transferMoving money from one person or business to another, in particular through the chain of transactions between banks' c…
- fundusLand or ground generally, whatever it is used for; also a farm.
- fundus patrimonialisIn Roman law, land belonging to the emperor's own patrimony, held by him as emperor.
- funeral expenseThe cost of burying or cremating a dead person and holding the service. It is normally paid out of the estate and ran…
- fungibleInterchangeable in trade with any other property of the same kind and quality.
- fungible goodsGoods that are interchangeable unit for unit, such as grain or oil, so that any equal quantity will satisfy a contract.
- furIn Roman law, a thief.
- furandi animusThe intent to steal.
- furcaA two-pronged instrument of punishment to which the offender's arms were tied. In England the word came to mean the g…
- Furian Caninian lawThe Roman statute of 2 B.C. that capped the number of enslaved people an owner could set free by will, on a sliding s…
- furigeldumA fine paid for theft.
- furlongOne-eighth of a mile, or forty poles.
- furloughLeave of absence from military service or other duty. The word also means a short release from prison.
- furor brevisRage, terror, or furious hatred flaring up suddenly in response to immediate provocation, usually another person's wo…
- furtaIn old English law, a franchise from the Crown to try, condemn, and execute criminals caught within a lord's jurisdic…
- further advanceA second or later loan from the same mortgagee to the same mortgagor, secured either by the original security or by f…
- further assuranceA covenant in a warranty deed by which the seller promises to sign any document that may later be needed to perfect t…
- further instructionA direction the judge gives the jury after the original charge, usually in answer to a question the jury has sent out…
- further judicial proceedingsSteps still to be taken in a case after a court has decided a particular point and sent the matter back.
- furtumTheft of movable property. Roman law counted as furtum not only taking another person's property but any handling of…
- furtum graveIn Scots law, theft in an aggravated form, once punishable by death.
- furtum manifestumIn Roman law, theft where the thief is caught in the act.
- Fusian Caninian lawThe Roman statute of 2 B.C. that capped the number of enslaved people an owner could set free by will, on a sliding s…
- fustigationA beating with a stick or club; also, harsh criticism.
- fustisA staff handed over in the ceremony of livery of seisin; also a baton or club.
- futhwiteA fine for fighting or breaking the peace.
- future advanceMoney that an existing security agreement still secures even though the lender hands it over after the security inter…
- future considerationConsideration still to be given, especially consideration that falls due after the other side has performed. The phra…
- future covenantA covenant that can be broken only when someone interferes with the buyer's possession, or that of the buyer's succes…
- future damagesMoney awarded for the continuing or expected effects of an injury that reduce the person's ability to function, such…
- future earningsWages, salary, or other income a person could have earned but for losing a job, suffering a disabling injury, or dyin…
- future estateAn interest in property whose enjoyment lies in the future rather than the present. It may rest in the grantor, as wi…
- future goodsGoods that do not yet exist or that the seller does not yet own. A contract to sell them takes effect as a promise to…
- future interestAn interest in property whose enjoyment or possession lies in the future rather than the present. It can sit with the…
- future performanceCarrying out at a later date an obligation that will come due under a contract.
- future useA use that would have been a contingent remainder had it not been created as a use instead.
- future valueWhat a sum of money, or a stream of payments, will be worth at a stated future date once interest at a given rate is…
- future-acquired propertyIn secured-transactions law, property the debtor picks up after the security agreement is signed, which then becomes…
- future-advance clauseA term in a security agreement extending the security to further sums the lender may advance, whether against the pre…
- future-advances mortgageA mortgage under which part of the loan money is not handed over until a later date.
- futuresStandardized assets, such as commodities, stocks, or foreign currencies, bought or sold for delivery later. The word…
- futures contractAn agreement to buy or sell a standardized asset, such as a commodity, stock, or foreign currency, at a fixed price o…
- futures marketAn exchange where futures contracts are traded; more broadly, any market in which the price is struck now but deliver…
- futures optionAn option to buy or sell a futures contract.
- futures tradingBuying and selling futures contracts, usually on an organized exchange.
- fyrdfareA summons to military service; the word also means an exemption from it.