L A R Y V O C A B U L A R Y C A B U L A R Y V O C A B U L A R Y C A B U L A R Y C A B U L A R Y V O C A B U L A R Y C A B U L A R Y V O L A R Y V O C A B U L A R Y V O C A B U L A R Y V O C A B U L A R Y V O C A B U L A R Y V O C A B U L A R Y V O C A B U L A R Y V O C A B U L A R Y V O C A B U L A R Y V O C A B U L A R Y V O C A B U L A R Y V O C A B U L A R Y V O C A B U L A R Y V O C A B U L A R Y V O C A B U L A R Y V OC A B U L A R Y V O C A B U L A R Y V O
Business law
vocabulary words
O C A B U L A R Y C A B U L A R Y V O C A B U L A R Y C A B U L A R Y C A B U L A R Y V O C A B U L A R Y C A B U L A R Y V O L A R Y V O C A B U L A R Y C A B U L A R Y V O C A B U L A R Y V O C A B U L Y V O C A B U L A R Y V O C A B U L A R Y V O C A B U L A R Y V O C A B U L A R Y V O C A B U L A R Y V O C A B U L A R Y V O C A B U L A R Y V O C A B U L A R Y V O C A B U L A R Y V O C A B U L A R Y V O C A B
1)
Acumen (n) keen insight, sharpness.
a)
Dr. Igwebuike seeks to enhance the acumen (sharpness; keen insights) of his students. Ad infinitum (adj.)—to infinity.
b)
We will live in eternity ad infinitum (for infinity).
2) Au fait—well informed, up to the mark
2)
Au fait—well informed, up to the mark
a)
The ceo of the software firm was au fait about his industry.
b)
Business law students were au fait about the legal environment.
3)
Augment (v) to enhance, improve, increase.
a)
Dr. Igwebuike’s purpose in teaching business law is to augment (enhance, improve) the thinking skills of his students.
4)
Analogize (verb)—in legal parlance, to make similar; to find a similarity or likeness.
a)
The court analogized (found similar) the old case to the present case because the facts were similar in that both homeowners had natural ponds.
5)
Autodidact—a self taught individual. One without formal education.
a)
A self taught person
6)
Barrister (noun)—a lawyer, attorney, a counselor.
a)
Barristers and attorneys apply jurisprudence in resolving disputes.
b)
I dare one of you to study and become a barrister (lawyer, counselor, attorney).
7)
Bifurcate (verb)—to divide in half; to separate in half; to split.
a)
We can bifurcate (split; divide) sources of law in two parts, for examples: federal and state law, international and national, internet and non-internet; substantive and procedural, criminal and civil.
8)
Ad seriatim adj. (add sear-ee-ah-tim) Latin for “one after another”.
a)
See also: seriatim
b)
In order for a plaintiff to prove negligence, he must prove (1) duty, (2) breach, (3) cause-in-fact, (4) proximate cause, and (5) damages ad seriatim (in order) and in the conjunctive (in total).
9)
Adamant (adj.) Unyielding, absolutely firm.
a)
The judge and jury were adamant (unyielding, absolutely firm) about the decision to carry out the death penalty against timothy McVeigh.
10)
Anomaly (n) anomalous (adj.) Deviation from the norm, out of the ordinary.
a)
The ten-year progeny who takes freshman physics at mit is an anomaly (deviation from the norm) in the lecture hall.
11)
Antecedent (earlier, preceding); antecedes; (verb); example: the juris doctor antedates (comes before, predates, precedes) the Ph.D. By over 1000 years.
12)
Antipathy (n) antipathetic (adj.) Hatred; dislike of, hatred for, aversion to.
a)
Many people have an unjustified antipathy (aversion, dislike of) toward reading.
13)
Apathy (n) apathetic (adj.) Lack of feeling or concern, absence of emotion.
a)
His apathy (lack of feeling, absence of emotion) about the injured child was shocking.
b)
Professors who are apathetic (lacking concern) about the success of their students are shocking.
14)
Begging the question—the act of answering a question with a question instead of responding with a statement as an answer to the question.
a)
The professor asked the student: “what is were the facts of the case?” The student, however, begged the question by responding: “you mean you’d like me to tell you what happened?”
15)
Circa (preposition)—Latin for “around, about, approximately”
usually used for dates.
a)
He was born circa (around) 79b.c.
16)
Codify (verb)—to make into a systematic form (tip: think of the word code).
a)
The Mississippi code codifies (makes systematic) mores and rules of conduct for the citizens of the state of Mississippi.
b)
Many legislatures codify the common law by making the decisions in those case laws statutes.
17)
Concede (verb)—to acknowledge as fact, to stipulate.
a)
The attorney conceded the fact that any person in a burning theater would indeed seek to open a door that reads “no exit.”
b)
It is conceded (acknowledged as fact, stipulated) that a bachelor’s degree is needed if one will succeed in the business world.
18)
Concretize (to solidify)
a)
The student concretized (solidified) the oral agreement by putting it in writing.
19)
Consternation (noun or adj.)—perplexity or confusion.
a)
Students looked at Dr. Igwebuike with consternation (perplexity) when he told them their final exam would be 400 questions.
20)
Debacle (noun)—disaster, fiasco, mess.
a)
The recent presidential election and subsequent law suits and media frenzy in Florida was a complete debacle (disaster).
21)
Distinguish (verb)—in legal parlance, to make distinct or different; find a difference.
a)
The court distinguished (found a difference) the present case from the old by finding that the dead child in this case was 21 years old whereas the child in the old case was 5 years old.
22)
Dispositive—resolving of the matter. That which resolves an issue is dispositive.
a)
That is a compelling argument, but it’s not dispositive.
23) Conundrum—a riddle in which; a difficult or thorny issue.
23)
Conundrum—a riddle in which; a difficult or thorny issue.
a)
Article i §8 clause 3 (the commerce clause) states that congress can regulate interstate (state-to-state) commerce as well as intrastate (commerce within states). Yet, the 10th amendment states that states are all-powerful within their borders. How does the law resolve this conundrum (challenge, riddle, puzzle)?
24)
Culpable (verb)—blameworthy.
a)
If you commit arson, you are culpable (blameworthy) of a crime.
25)
De facto—by fact, actually existing or actually exercising power
a)
Even though the 13th amendment abolished slavery, many plantation owners in the south maintained slaves de facto (by fact, contrary to law).
26)
Deferential (adj.)—giving in to respectfully (ex: to defer = to give in to)
a)
Congress deferred (was deferential) (to give in to respectfully) to Abraham Lincoln’s decision to free the slaves by passing the 13th amendment.
b)
The young man deferred (respectfully gave in to) to his parent’s wishes to go to college rather than going to the army.
27)
De jure—of right; legitimate; lawful.
a)
Once the owners of the business filed the correct papers with the secretary of state’s office, the corporation could then function de jure (by law, legitimately).
28)
Discretion (noun)—prerogative, power to do, judgment.
a)
It is well within the supreme court of the united state’s discretion (power, judgment, prerogative) whether the court will issue a writ of certiorari to decide a lower court case.
29)
Disparate (adj.)—distinct; separate
a)
The idea of communism and democracy are disparate (distinct) ideologies.
b)
Brown v. Board of education eliminated disparate treatment of students.
30)
Divvy—to partition, divide up.
a)
Divvy (divide up) your reading so that you can master all of the words.
31)
Educare’ (to draw forth), the root word of education is educare’ (to draw forth).
32)
Effectuate (verb)—to cause to happen; to effect; to bring about.
a)
You can effectuate (bring about) a good grade in business law by reviewing your notes 10 minutes a day.
33)
Emanate (verb)—to issue from, to come from.
a)
Statutes emanating from congress are called acts.
b)
Statutes emanating from states legislatures are called statutes.
c)
Statutes emanating from a municipality, city, or town (locality) are called ordinances.
34)
Eponym (noun)—one for whom or which something is or is believed to be named; a name (as of a drug or a disease) based on or derived from an eponym
a)
The word “socratic” is eponymous with the name socrates.
b)
The word “pasteurization” is an eponym of
35)
Equivocate (pronounced i-kwi-ve-kate) (verb). To lie.
a)
Bill Clinton equivocated (lied) when he said: “i did not have sexual relations with that woman, Monica Lewinsky.”
36)
Etymology (noun)—the study (or history or background) of words
a)
The etymology (history/background) of the word “draconian” harkens back to a sinister ruler named “Draco.”
37)
Et cetera (etc.)—(Latin: meaning “and other unspecified things in the class.”)
a)
The lawyer interviewed teachers, students, principals, parents, etc. (“et cetera” and other unspecified things) when he prosecuted the case for the school shooting.
38)
Ergo-therefore. O.J. Simpson was in Hawaii at the time Nichole Sampson was killed, ergo he did not kill her.
39)
Exculpate (verb)—free from blame, to exonerate, to vindicate.
a)
O.J. Simpson was exculpated (freed from, exonerated, vindicated) of the charges of murder by a jury trial.
40)
Explicit (adj.)—expressed in writing or speech
a)
The students told the teacher: “we want to learn.” Hence, they were explicit (expressed in writing or speech) in their desire to learn.
b)
The fact that the constitution is the supreme law of the land is explicit (in writing) in the constitution.
41)
Extricate (verb)—to free from a difficult bind, to disentangle from a bind.
a)
The student extricated (free; disentangle) himself of the scheduling bind and managed to graduate on time.
42)
Fiduciary (adj. Or noun)—dealing with finances or one responsible for finances.
a)
The bank has a fiduciary (financial) responsibility to safeguard my funds.
43)
Forum (noun)—the tribunal, place where a case is adjudicated (decided) or tried.
a)
The appropriate forum (tribunal) for cases involving bankruptcy are the federal bankruptcy courts and not a state court forum (tribunal, court).
44) Fulcrum
44)
Fulcrum
a)
Point on which the argument turns.
45)
Functionaries—priests, ministers, rabbis, or other religious “functionaries”
46)
Haphazard (adj.)-random, without discriminating, by chance.
a)
Students prefer that lectures be organized and systematic, not chaotic and haphazard (random).
47)
Heretofore, hitherto—up until now. Up until now (heretofore) the company never used computers. Now the company integrates it in all its activities.
48)
Hierarchy (noun)—ranking, pecking order, priorities.
a)
The hierarchy (priority) of American law is as follows:
i)
U.s. supreme courts cases & u.s. constitutional law--
supersedes
ii)
Federal law (congressional acts: civil rights act, Americans with disabilities act)
supersedes
iii)
State law (law of the 51 states)---
supersedes
iv)
City law, municipalities, local law --
supersedes
49)
Implicit (adj.)—to be implied (or inferred) based on conduct.
a)
The students came to class daily, read all their assignments, and participated in class. Therefore, it can be implied (inferred) from their conduct that the students wanted to learn.
b)
The coach implied that the student was not playing this year when the player didn’t come to the first practice of the season.
c)
Nothing in the faculty code of conduct explicitly says a professor cannot slug a student in the stomach. However, it is implicit (understood) that a faculty should not slug a student.
50)
Inculpate (verb)—to blame, to make blameworthy, charge.
a)
The Pharisees and Sadducees inculpated (blamed, charged) Jesus with the crime of treason.
51)
Injunction (noun)—a stop order issued by a court; a prohibition.
a)
The citizens of canton successfully sued Nissan and got a court injunction (stop order; prohibition) to stop the construction of the Nissan plant.
52)
Indiscriminately (adv.)—randomly, without discriminating, by chance.
a)
The student who killed students at columbine high school, was guilty of shooting his victims indiscriminately (randomly, haphazardly).
53)
In the conjunctive; (conjoined, going together; linked together; must be linked in whole)
a)
Example: in order for a plaintiff to plead and prove a prima facie case of negligence, the plaintiff must prove duty, breach, cause-in-fact, proximate cause, and damages in the conjunctive.
54)
In the disjunctive (can be separate)
a)
Example: in order get her case into federal court, plaintiff may either seek to get in under diversity jurisdiction or federal question jurisdiction in the disjunctive.
55)
Jurisprudence (noun)—the science of law.
a)
One of the reasons we are in professor igwebuike’s business law class is to learn jurisprudence (the science of law). The other reason is to learn to think.
56)
Legalese (noun)—the language of lawyers; legal phraseology or terminology.
a)
I am not intimidated by legalese (law talk) since I’ve taken business law.
57)
Lingua franca—common language.
a)
The professor assigned vocabulary words for study so that students could master legalese, which would be the lingua franca (common language) for the course.
58)
Misnomer-mistake in name, a misunderstanding.
a)
The professor reminded his students that it is a misnomer (misunderstanding) to think that the mastery of the law can be had without the purchasing of a legal textbook.
59)
Mores (noun)—commonly held notions of how to behave, how to treat others, or how to comport oneself in a civilized society.
a)
The mores (norms of conduct) of society eventually become law.
b)
“thou shall not kill” is a more (norm of conduct).
60)
Mutually exclusive (either or; meaning you can only have one but not the other). Being moral and being immoral are mutually exclusive (you can only have one but not the other).
61)
Nomenclature—list of names. Chemistry uses the nomenclature of the periodic table.
62)
Not mutually exclusive (means you can have both). Having fun and working hard are not mutually exclusive (does not exclude each one). In other words, you can do one with the other. Ergo, work and fun can be mutually inclusive.
63)
Novel (adj.)—creative, penetrating, unique, different.
64)
The students made novel (creative,
a)
insightful, penetrating) arguments concerning whether an homeowner would be liable for wrongful death if a child falls in the homeowner’s unguarded natural pond.
b)
Phat farm® makes novel (creative, distinctive, unique) clothes.
65)
Nuance (subtlety, finer points).
a)
We are studying business law to understand the nuances (subtleties, finer points) of the law.
66)
Nullify (verb)—to eliminate, cancel, make void.
a)
Andrew jackson nullified the order from union general george sherman to give the freed slaves 40-acres and a mule.
67)
Par (noun)–on a common (equal) level.
a)
Usually used with “on…”.
b)
This case is on par (equal position) with previous cases.
c)
Students graduating from alcorn state university will have business law knowledge on par (on equal footing) with students graduating from Yale, Harvard, MIT, and Princeton.
68)
Parlance: learning to articulate the precise parlance is an important skill as a business manager. Parlance (manner of speaking) e.g., the parlance of the legal profession distinguishes between a burglary and a robbery. The parlance of the accounting profession distinguishes between LIFO and FIFO. The parlance of the management profession draws distinctions between theory x and theory y.
69)
Pedagogy (noun)—a form of teaching.
a)
Dr. Igwebuike uses the Socratic method as his pedagogical (teaching/instruction) device.
70)
Personal property (noun)—property other than real property. Personal property is usually movable.
a)
My clothes, computer, printer, book, pen, pencil are personal (non-real ) property.
71)
Polyglot—one who is fluent in several languages.
a)
The goal of this course is to make students polyglots (masters of several languages, english as well as legalese).
72)
Proscribe (verb)—to prohibit or prevent or preclude.
a)
Dr. Igwebuike proscribes (prohibits) students from coming to his class late.
73)
Pursuant (adverb)—the act of carrying into effect; something done towards something else.
a)
Criminal laws are made pursuant (towards; for the purpose of) to punishing the criminal.
b)
Civil laws are made pursuant to giving restitution.
74)
Purview (noun)—scope or range or power.
a)
The president of the united states declared war against Afghanistan without the approval of congress. Thus he acted outside the purview (limits of his power) of his presidential powers.
75) Privy—private, to gain knowledge of
75)
Privy—private, to gain knowledge of
a)
Students who take Dr. Igwebuike’s business law courses become privy to (knowledgeable of) the intricacies of law that they would otherwise never get.
76)
Real property (noun)—in legal parlance (terminology), real property includes land, houses, real estate.
a)
My house and the land is real property. My furniture, bed, car, books, chairs, tables, etc. Are personal property.
77)
Requisite (required).
a)
The requisite (required) of a valid contract are agreement, consideration, capacity, and legality in the conjunctive.
78) Savvy—sophisticated, sharp
78)
Savvy—sophisticated, sharp
a)
Through master of the thinking process of law, one can apply the thinking process to any other course and thereby become a savvy (mentally sharp and sophisticated) student.
79)
Segue (verb)—to proceed to what follows without pause.
a)
Dr. Igwebuike sequed into chapter 2 after we finished chapter 1.
80) Slippery slope—a Pandora’s box, a point of no return, a never ending cycle.
80)
Slippery slope—a Pandora’s box, a point of no return, a never ending cycle.
a)
The u.s. supreme court has never ruled that one has a right to an education because that would otherwise open up a slippery slope (a Pandora’s box) of untold dimensions as well as grant other rights ad infinitum.
81)
Socratic (adj.)—a form of instruction by dialogue or questioning.
a)
Dr. Igwebuike teaches business law using the Socratic (question-and-answer or dialogue) method as his chief form of pedagogy (instruction).
82)
Stare decisis (noun)—a common law doctrine of applying the decisions of past cases to present cases. Latin for “let the decision stand.”
a)
Stare decision (Latin for “let the decision stand”) is a common law doctrine which is still in force today.
83)
Supersede (verb)—to surpass, replace.
a)
The old law of Plessy v. Ferguson (separate-but-[un]equal was superseded by new law, Brown v. Board of Education (equal protection)).
b)
The doctrine of supersession recognizes that the most significant state law must give way to the most
84)
Tort (noun)—a French word of “injury.”
a)
If i hit you i batter you. Battery (an unwanted or offensive touching) is a tort (injury) if the plaintiff can prove all the damages.
85)
Transaction costs (noun)—costs that result when engaging in or transacting any activity; a hallmark concern of the legal decisions is the impact of transaction costs
a)
If a company does not proscribe (stop) discrimination, the transaction costs (costs in delay, time, energy, etc.) Involved with law suits might cause the company to file bankruptcy.
86)
Unequivocal (pronounced un-ee-kwi-vuh-khul) (unquestionable; clear, unambiguous, leaving no doubt).
a)
That Michael Jordan is the greatest basketball player of all times is unequivocal (unquestionable, unambiguous).
b)
To have an agreement, the offeree must give an unequivocal (unambiguous) acceptance.
87)
Voyeurism (n) deriving gratification by watching the sexual acts of others. Voyeur (n) person who derives gratification by watching the sexual acts of others.
a)
There were claims that independent counsel, Kenneth Starr, was motivated by voyeurism (excessive indulgence in deriving gratification by watching the sexual acts of others) in his unrelenting investigation against former president Bill Clinton.
88)
Vicarious (adj.) Acting in place of someone or something else.
a)
The department store, Dillards, was vicariously liable when the employee accidentally caused the customer to scrape her arm.
89)
Vis-à-vis (conjunction meaning “compared to” or “as against.”
a)
The subjective standard vis-à-vis (compared to) the objective standard gives the defendant more room not to be found liable for negligence.
90)
Voluminous (adj.)—large, extensive, broad, lengthy.
a)
The study of law is a voluminous (extensive, large) endeavor.
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