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Constitutional Reference

Glossary of Constitutional Terms

A comprehensive reference of 297 terms and definitions used in the United States Constitution, the Declaration of Independence, and the Bill of Rights. Understand the archaic legal language that shapes American governance.

297 Terms A to Y
A
29 terms
Abdicated
Gave up a right, responsibility or duty
Abridging
Reducing or restricting
Absolved
Set free or released
Accommodation
The process of adapting or adjusting to someone or something
Acquiesce
Agree without protest
Adhering
Being attached as a follower
Adjourn
Postpone action of a convened legislative body until another time specified
Admiralty and maritime jurisdiction
Maritime-related to the sea or sailing; covers transactions relating to commerce, navigation, damages and injuries upon water
Admit
Allow
Affected
To seek to obtain; to aim at; aspire to
Affirmation
A formal legal declaration by a person who declines to take an oath for reasons of conscience
Allegiance
Tie or obligation of a person to his king or government
Ambassador
A government official of the highest rank sent by one nation to represent it in another
Annihilation
Being wiped out completely
Appeal
To make a request to a higher court asking that a case be reheard or reviewed
Appellate
Relating to appeals, which are reviews of lower court decisions by a higher court
Application
Formal request to an authority; the act of making such a request
Apportioned
Divided and allocated
Appropriation
Money set aside for a particular use; assigning for a particular use
Arbitrary
Not based on a known reason or rule; at the whim of someone else; absolute or unrestricted
Arsenals
Places for making or storing weapons and other munitions
Article
A section or part of a written document such as a constitution, treaty or contract
Ascertained
Established
Assent
Agreement or consent
Assume
To take
At large
In general; in complete detail or fully
Attainder
The loss of a person's civil rights and property because he has been sentenced to death or outlawed
Attained
Reached
Attainted
Punished by attainder
B
11 terms
Bail
Money given to allow temporary release from jail and to guarantee the person will return at a certain date
Bands
Things that bind or unite
Beneficent
Causing good to be done
Bill
A proposed law presented for discussion and approval; a list of items
Bill of Attainder
A law passed against a person, pronouncing him guilty without trial of an alleged crime and punishing him by death and depriving him of civil rights and property
Bill of credit
Paper money
Blessings
Benefits
Bounties
Rewards offered to people by the government for performing certain acts
Breach
Violation
Brethren
People closely united or associated
Britain
The island where England, Scotland and Wales are located; since 1707 also refers to the political union of England, Scotland and Wales
C
40 terms
Candid
Free from prejudice; fair or impartial
Capital
Punishable by death
Capitation
A tax, fee, or charge of the same amount for every person
Cases
Matters to be decided in a court of law
Certificates
Declarations made in writing and signed by the person and intended to verify a fact
Certify
Make a declaration in writing
Cession
The action of transferring the title or ownership of something to another owner
Charter
A document which outlines the conditions under which a colony is organized
Chief justice
The senior judge of the Supreme Court
Civil
Relating to a person as a member of a community; relating to the community, or to the policy and government of the citizens
Civil liberty
The liberty of persons in a society with restraint for safety; control of the individual to prevent harm to others
Colony
A group of people who settle in a place away from their native land but remain under the political control of their native land; the land settled by these people
Commander in chief
Supreme commander of the armed forces
Commission
A written document given to a person authorizing him to perform certain duties; the act of giving a commission to a person
Common law
Body of rules, principles and customs received from ancestors and recognized by courts; applies to disputes between private parties in non-criminal matters
Compact
Contract or treaty
Compulsory process
A legal document ordering a person to appear in court
Conclude
To make a final determination
Concur
Agree
Concurrence
Agreement
Concurrent
Existing at the same time
Confederation
A group of independent nations or states joined together; referred to the United States before the Constitution was adopted
Congress
A body of persons with the power to make laws; the U.S. Congress is composed of the Senate and House of Representatives
Conjured
Asked earnestly
Consanguinity
Relationship by descent from the same ancestor; kinship; close relationship
Consent
Permission
Constellation
A group of stars that form a recognizable pattern
Constituting
Forming
Constitution
An agreement that sets in place a system of fundamental principles for government; a system of fundamental rules establishing the form of government in a state or country; a document in which these fundamental laws are written
Constrains
Forces or compels
Construed
Interpreted or explained
Consul
A person appointed by his government to live in a foreign country and serve his own country's business interests
Controversies
Lawsuits
Convene
To cause to assemble
Convention
Meeting of delegates or representatives for consultation on important issues
Correspondence
Communication
Corruption of blood
A blood relative of a person guilty of treason is held guilty of his or her relative's treason
Credit
Confidence which people place in the ability of a nation, company or individual to repay borrowed money; a reliance on the truth of something said or done
Creed
Set of beliefs or aims that guide someone's actions
Crown
The power of a king
D
21 terms
Decent
Fit or suitable
Declaration
A public announcement
Declare
To state that a person or thing exists in a certain way
Deem
Conclude
Democracy
A government run directly by the people; a system where the people vote for representatives who vote on their behalf
Denounces
Announces
Deny
Refuse to recognize
Depository
A place where anything is kept for safekeeping
Design
Plan or purpose
Despotism
A tyranny; unjust and oppressive government
Devolve
Pass to a body or person at a lower level (duties and responsibilities)
Disavow
Repudiate or condemn
Discipline
Education and instruction
Disparage
Regard as being of little worth
Dispose of
To deal with conclusively, or settle
Disposed
Made willing; inclined
Distinct
Separate
District
An area of a country or city
Domestic
Refers to one's own country
Due process of law
The regular administration or course of the law
Duty
A payment due to the government, especially a tax imposed on imports, exports, or manufactured goods; that which a person owes to another
E
25 terms
Effect
Produce or cause
Effects
Personal belongings
Either
One or the other
Elector
Someone who elects; a qualified voter or a person who votes at the Electoral College for president and vice president
Electoral College
The group of people that elects the president and vice president
Emancipation
The action of freeing from slavery
Emit
Issue formally and with authority; put into circulation
Emolument
The gain from employment or position; payment received for work; salary, wages, fees, etc.
Endowed
Provided with a quality or power
Ends
Intended purposes
Engagements
Obligations by agreement or contract
Enjoy
Have, possess and use with satisfaction
Entangling
Involving in difficulties or complicated circumstances that are difficult to get out of
Enumeration
Establishing the number of something
Equity
Fairness or justice; a system of rules that supplements laws when inadequate for fair settlement
Establish
Set up on a permanent basis
Evinces
Shows or indicates
Ex Post Facto
After the fact; a law which applies to actions committed before the law was passed
Excise
A tax on the manufacture, sale, or consumption of various commodities within a country
Excited
Created
Execution
The putting into operation
Executive
Refers to the branch of government that administers laws and government affairs
Executive departments
Currently fifteen departments such as Defense, Commerce and Agriculture; principal officers are called secretaries and make up the president's cabinet
Exercise
Performance of duties
Expedient
Proper under the circumstances
F
9 terms
Faith
Belief; confidence; trust
Fatiguing
Weaken by harassing
Federal
The system of national government dealing with matters that individual states have in common; a league of states that have agreed to cooperate
Felony
A major crime such as murder, arson, rape, etc.
Fit
Convenient
Forfeiture
A giving up of something as a penalty, such as losing one's property as a payment for a crime
Formidable
Feared or dreaded
Free
Able to think or act without restriction; independent
Free person
Someone who is not a slave
G
4 terms
General
Concerning all or most people
Government
The action of controlling or regulating a nation; the fundamental system by which a country is ruled
Grand jury
A jury that investigates allegations of a crime and issues indictments if it finds sufficient evidence
Ground
Foundation; that which supports anything
H
8 terms
Habeas corpus
Latin for "you are ordered to have the body"; a legal document ordering a person to be brought before a court
Happiness
That agreeable state of being in which desires are gratified; enjoyment of pleasure without pain
Herein
In this document
High crimes
Great or punishable by death
High seas
The open ocean not under the jurisdiction of a country
Hither
To this place
House
A group of people elected to make laws; part of the legislative branch; Congress is made up of two houses
Humble
Submissive
I
16 terms
Immunities
Freedoms
Impeachment
Charging the holder of a public office with misconduct; the House makes a written charge and the Senate sits as a court
Impel
Drive or urge forward
Impost
A tax, especially a tax on imported goods
In consequence
As a result
In general
Relating to or including all members
Indictment
A formal written charge against one or more people presented to a court
Inestimable
Too valuable or precious to be properly measured or estimated
Inevitably
Unavoidably
Infamous crime
One which is punishable by imprisonment or death
Inferior officers
Government officials of lower rank than ambassadors, Supreme Court judges, etc.
Instituted
Established
Instrument
Someone or something used as a means for accomplishing a specific purpose
Insurrections
Violent uprising against authority or government
Invested
Provided with something
Involuntary servitude
A slave-like condition; sometimes British criminals were sold to American colonists to labor
J
6 terms
Judicial
Refers to judges, courts or their functions
Judiciary
Dealing with courts of law
Junction
Act of joining
Jurisdiction
The power to make, declare or apply the law; the power to govern
Just
Honest; conforming to moral and proper principles of social conduct
Justice
Behavior or treatment based on what is morally right or fair; the administration of the law; a judge on the Supreme Court
K
1 term
Kindred
Relationship by blood
L
11 terms
Laid
Imposed a burden or penalty
Law
Rules established by governments for regulating people's actions
Law of nations
Rules that regulate dealings between nations coming from principles of justice, customs or agreements
Laws of Nature
Nature is the entire universe or the creator of all things; includes unchanging moral principles forming the basis for human conduct
Lay
To set or impose (to lay and collect taxes)
Legislative
The power to make laws
Legislature
A group of persons given the power and responsibility to make laws for a country or state
Letters of Marque and Reprisal
Government documents authorizing an individual to arm a ship and capture enemy merchant ships and cargo; no longer used
Levying
Making (levying war)
Liberty
Free from the arbitrary control of others; release or freedom from slavery, imprisonment or other restrictions
Life
The condition in which a plant's, an animal's or a human being's natural functions are performed
M
11 terms
Magazines
Places of storage or military supply depots
Magnanimity
The quality of being noble and generous in one's conduct and rising above pettiness or meanness
Majority
More than half
Manly
Brave
Measures
Inches, feet, yards, acres, etc.; actions to be taken
Mercenaries
Hired soldiers
Militia
Body of soldiers organized from the civilian population in times of emergencies
Misconstruction
Mistaking the true meaning
Misdemeanors
Offenses less serious than crimes
Mock
Imitating reality but not real
Mode
Manner; method
N
6 terms
Native
Produced by nature; natural
Natural liberty
The power to act as one thinks fit without any restraint or control except from the laws of nature
Naturalization
Giving to a person of foreign birth the rights of citizenship in a new country
Nay
A "no" vote
Net
Remaining from an amount of money after all deductions have been made
Notwithstanding
Without being affected by the particular factor mentioned
O
9 terms
Oath
A formal declaration with an appeal to God for the truth of what is being declared
Object
Aim or goal
Office
A particular duty or employment
Officers
People appointed to positions of authority in a government; people appointed to positions of rank and authority in the armed services
Ordain
Officially order
Original jurisdiction
The authority to try a case from its beginning
Other officers
People appointed to positions of responsibility in the government
Other public ministers
Government officials representing their own government in another country and ranking below an ambassador
Overt act
An actual open and outward action taken to further a crime
P
28 terms
Paralleled
Equaled
Pardon
Lessening or setting aside the punishment for a crime
Parliament
A group of people that make the laws for a country
Peace
That quiet, order and security which is guaranteed by the laws
People
The group of persons who make up a nation
Perfidy
Treachery
Petitioned
Made a formal request
Political
Relating to government or public affairs
Poll tax
A tax per "head"; a tax on each person collected before they may vote
Post roads
Roads over which mail is carried
Posterity
All of a person's descendants; all future generations or future mankind
Powers
Influential countries; rights or authorities
Prejudice
To injure, or harm because of some action
Prescribe
Order or direct
Presentment
A report made by a grand jury of an offense observed or learned during their investigations
President pro tempore
A senator who presides over the U.S. Senate in the absence of the vice president
Primary election
A state election to choose candidates for public office
Privileged
Exempted
Pro tempore
Temporary
Probable cause
A valid reason in presuming someone is guilty of some illegal act
Produce
That which is yielded
Provide
Make available for use; make adequate preparation; enable or allow
Provided
Used in legal documents to introduce a condition or requirement
Providence
God or the protective care of nature as a spiritual power
Prudence
Good judgment
Public
In open view
Publish
Formally announce
Pursuance
The carrying out of something in the way that is expected or required
Q
2 terms
Quartering
Lodging
Quorum
The minimum number of members of an assembly required to be present to make the actions valid
R
18 terms
Ratify
To give formal approval to something
Recess
Suspension of business
Rectitude
Correctness of behavior
Redress
The setting right of what is wrong; satisfaction or compensation for a wrong or injury
Reformation
The correction of anything corrupt
Render
Cause to be; make
Representative houses
Legislatures composed of representatives of the people who meet and make laws
Reprieves
Postponements of punishments
Republic
A form of government in which supreme power rests with all the people and their elected representatives, and which has an elected president rather than a king or queen
Requisite
Required or necessary
Reserving
Retaining
Resolution
Formal statement of opinion or intention by a legislature
Respect
That positive view or honor in which we hold the good qualities of others; in view of; considering, regarding
Respecting
Regarding
Respectively
Separately or individually
Returns
Reports on the count of votes at polling places
Rhode Island and Providence Plantations
The name of four early settlements in what is now Rhode Island
Right
A power or privilege which correctly belongs to one by law, nature or tradition; verb to relieve from wrong; restore to normal or correct condition
S
14 terms
Seat
Location or site; a place in an elected legislature or other body
Secure
To make certain, to make safe, to guard effectively from danger
Securities
IOUs, such as savings bonds issued by the U.S. government
Self-evident
Producing certainty or clear conviction upon direct observation
Several
Individual, separate or distinct
Sitting
Engaged in its business
Speaker
The officer presiding over a lawmaking body, such as the House of Representatives
Standing
Remaining permanently in existence
Station
Position or rank
Subscribed
Signed at the end of a document
Substance
Means of living
Sufferable
Able to be tolerated
Sufferance
Tolerance; endurance, such as of pain or misery
Suffrage
The right to vote
T
12 terms
Tenure
The duration, act, manner, or right of holding something, such as an elected office or other position
Thereby
By or through that
Therefore
For that reason
Therein
In that place
Thereof
Of that
Train
A series
Tranquility
Calmness
Transient
Short duration; not lasting
Treatise
A written work dealing formally and systematically with a subject
Tribunals
Courts
Try
Examine according to law, as in a court
Tyranny
Oppressive or unjust government
U
5 terms
Unalienable
Not capable of being sold, separated or transferred
Undistinguished
Not making a distinction among or between
Union
A group of independent states joined together for some specific purpose; the United States of America
Unwarrantable
Unjustified
Usurpation
The wrongful or forceful taking of a right or power
V
2 terms
Vest
Place in the control of a person or group
Viz
A contraction of a Latin word meaning "that is to say"
W
8 terms
Wanting
Lacking
Weights
Ounces, pounds, etc.
Welfare
Prosperity and happiness
Whatsoever
Of any kind
Works
Actions, deeds, achievements
Writ
A formal legal document ordering some action
Writ of Habeas Corpus
See habeas corpus
Writs of election
Formal written documents ordering elections
Y
1 term
Yea
A "yes" vote