Legal Definitions: A Research Guide for
June 6, 2024
Congressional Staff
Calvin Gibson
This report is designed to introduce congressional staff to examples of legal and nonlegal
Law Librarian
sources, including statutes, legislation, and dictionaries, for researching legal definitions. It
includes governmental sources, such as the
United States Code (
U.S. Code), the
Code of Federal Regulations (C.F.R.), and congressional legislation. Proprietary information sources are also
included.
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Legal Definitions: A Research Guide for Congressional Staff
Contents
Federal Statutory Definitions .......................................................................................................... 1
Federal Regulatory Definitions ....................................................................................................... 2
Judicial Definitions .......................................................................................................................... 2
Legal Dictionaries ........................................................................................................................... 2
Industry Dictionaries ....................................................................................................................... 3
Contacts
Author Information .......................................................................................................................... 3
Congressional Research Service
Legal Definitions: A Research Guide for Congressional Staff
n addition to carrying their conventional meanings, terms can be defined and expanded upon
by legislatures, federal agencies, judiciaries, and legal and nonlegal dictionaries. There are
I several approaches to finding legal definitions and a variety of sources from which to choose;
however, some sources are more authoritative than others, depending on the nature of research.
Members and congressional staff can consult with attorneys and analysts at the Congressional
Research Service (CRS) to determine whether the executive or judicial branches have defined or
interpreted particular terms used in federal statutes, as well as bills or other legislation.
Federal Statutory Definitions
Congressional researchers may be interested in how the U.S. Congress has defined or attempted
to define terms in the past. Oftentimes, searching statutory definitions in the
United States Code (
U.S. Code) in the
Westlaw and
LexisNexis legal databases can be an effective method, since a
researcher can use advanced “terms and connectors” searches that may not be able to be used in
other sources. Open sources include uscode.house.gov for the
U.S. Code, maintained by the
Office of the Law Revision Counsel, and Congress.gov, maintained by CRS, for congressional
legislation and public laws.
For the purposes of this guide, the following sections use the term “disadvantaged community”
for its examples.
United States Code
Sample
Westlaw or
LexisNexis search syntax: “disadvantaged community” /7 (defin! or mean! or
refer! or includ! or consist!)
Sample uscode.house.gov search syntax: “disadvantaged community” near/7 (defin* or mean* or
refer* or includ* or consist*)
Congressional Bill Text
Sample
Westlaw or
LexisNexis search syntax: “disadvantaged community” /7 (defin! or mean! or
refer! or includ! or consist!)
Sample Congress.gov search syntax: “disadvantaged community” ~7 (defin* or mean* or refer*
or includ* or consist*)
By performing these advanced searches, results will be retrieved that contain the terms
“disadvantaged community” that are within seven words of one or more of the following search
terms. By using the quotation marks connector, the words “disadvantaged” and “community” will
be grouped together, helping ensure accuracy. By using the exclamation point or asterisk
connector, depending on the database, results will include word endings (for example, in
Westlaw and
LexisNexis, defin! will return define, defines, defined, definition, etc.). Depending on the
word or term, the exclamation point or asterisk connector can allow for broader results. For
example, by searching for “disadvantaged communit!,” word endings of “community” will be
included. Using different search techniques may yield different results.
Searching for synonyms or alternatives to the initial search term(s) may prove beneficial, as terms
can vary among legislatures and statutes. In this case, a researcher can substitute “disadvantaged”
for “economically distressed,” “underserved,” “poor,” and “depressed.” A researcher can also
substitute “community” for “area,” “region,” and “political subdivision.” By performing these
substitutions and other modifications to the search, one may improve its comprehensiveness and
relevance.
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Legal Definitions: A Research Guide for Congressional Staff
Once a drafter has identified a suitable definition, it can be useful to cross-reference it with the
definition found in official federal and state government publications to help ensure accuracy and
currency. Additionally, if the definition is to be used in an official publication, citing the most
authoritative source possible can be preferred.
Federal Regulatory Definitions
In some circumstances, Congress has not defined a particular term used in a statute but has
authorized a federal agency to promulgate rules to interpret or implement that law. Because of
this, federal regulations may contain pertinent definitions.
Code of Federal Regulations
Sample search syntax: “disadvantaged community” /7 (defin! or mean! or refer! or includ! or
consist!)
Within
Westlaw and
LexisNexis, the search strategy for C.F.R. remains the same. An open source
of C.F.R. is ecfr.gov, maintained by the National Archives and Records Administration.
Judicial Definitions
In some instances, a court may interpret a term used in a statute.
Words and Phrases. Words and Phrases, compiled by Thomson Reuters and available on
Westlaw, provides instances where terms have been interpreted by federal and state courts. These
definitions are sourced from cases dating back to 1781.
Legal Dictionaries
For more general legal terms, several dictionaries and thesauri are useful.
Ballentine’s Law Dictionary. Ballentine’s dates back to 1916 and provides citations to
American
Jurisprudence 2d as well as relevant case law. It is available on
LexisNexis.
Black’s Law Dictionary. Dating to 1891,
Black’s Law Dictionary has been the leading source for
legal definitions, providing citations to
Corpus Juris Secundum and relevant statutes. The latest
edition of
Black’s (11th ed., 2019) is available on
Westlaw and in print in the La Follette
Congressional Reading Room; earlier editions are available on
Westlaw.
Bouvier’s Law Dictionary. Dating to 1837,
Bouvier’s Law Dictionary provides historical legal
entries. It is currently referred to as the
Wolters Kluwer Bouvier Law Dictionary and is available
on
LexisNexis.
Burton’s Legal Thesaurus. Burton’s contains words used in a variety of legal contexts, including
within the legal community and in legal communications, as well as translations of foreign terms.
It is available on
LexisNexis.
A Dictionary of Modern Legal Usage. Edited by Bryan A. Garner, the editor of
Black’s Law
Dictionary,
Garner’s provides legal context for each entry, including case citations, as well as
general commentary. A reference copy of the latest edition (3d. ed., 2011) is available in the Law
Library of Congress Reading Room.
Prince’s Bieber Dictionary of Legal Abbreviations. Dating to 1988 and compiled by Mary Miles
Prince, this dictionary contains abbreviations, acronyms, and symbols found in a variety of
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Legal Definitions: A Research Guide for Congressional Staff
primary and secondary legal sources. The latest edition (7th ed., 2017) is available as a reference
copy in the Law Library of Congress Reading Room.
West’s Tax Law Dictionary. This dictionary contains terms and phrases used in American tax law
and is available on
Westlaw.
Industry Dictionaries
In some cases, researchers may not be able to find a definition created by a statute or regulation
or interpreted by the courts. In those instances, definitions used in the industry may provide
guidance on the term. Below are a sample of industry dictionaries. Some of them are available
electronically in the La Follette Congressional Reading Room.
The Environmental Regulatory Dictionary. This dictionary provides definitions for thousands of
terms in Title 40 of the Code of Federal Regulations, with cross-references to other C.F.R.
sections. A reference copy is available in the Law Library of Congress Reading Room.
The New Palgrave Dictionary of Economics. This dictionary contains essays, articles, and other
supplementary material from leading economists, as well as thousands of entries. This dictionary
is available in print in the La Follette Congressional Reading Room.
Stedman’s Medical Dictionary. Dating to 1833,
Stedman’s Medical Dictionary contains medical
terms, measurements, acronyms, and abbreviations.
Stedman’s is available on
Westlaw.
Warren, Gorham & Lamont (WG&L) Tax Dictionary. WG&L contains more than 4,000 federal
taxation terms from IRS rulings, court decisions, and sections from the Internal Revenue Code. It
is available on
Westlaw.
Author Information
Calvin Gibson
Law Librarian
Disclaimer
This document was prepared by the Congressional Research Service (CRS). CRS serves as nonpartisan
shared staff to congressional committees and Members of Congress. It operates solely at the behest of and
under the direction of Congress. Information in a CRS Report should not be relied upon for purposes other
than public understanding of information that has been provided by CRS to Members of Congress in
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