Law and Legal Research
Legal Dictionaries & Encyclopedias
What are legal dictionaries and encyclopedias and why are they important?
The Law and Legal Studies research guide from UMass Amherst explains very well why these two resources are particularly important in law:
Legal encyclopedias are secondary (and sometimes tertiary) sources that explain legal terms and concepts, legislation, and notable court cases. They are a useful starting point for research because they summarize the topic and often provide references to the most important statutes and cases. Legal encyclopedias can be general, or focused on a particular area of law.
Legal dictionaries briefly explain legal terms and concepts and are useful when you are not clear on the meaning of a legal term, particularly due to the law's extensive use of Latin terminology. Legal dictionaries can be general, or focused on a particular area of law. Some legal dictionaries provide references to a term's use in legislation and court law, to show what the legislature and judiciary intended it to mean.
Resources
These resources are either open and free to the public and/or available to BPL cardholders.
The two most popular general legal encyclopedias are Corpus Juris Secundum (C.J.S.), and American Jurisprudence, 2d (Am. Jur. 2d). There are state legal encyclopedias, as well as encyclopedias with a more narrow focus.
- Wex
Wex is a free legal dictionary and encyclopedia sponsored and hosted by the Legal Information Institute at the Cornell Law School. Wex entries are collaboratively created and edited by legal experts.
Black's Law Dictionary by Publication Date: 2019For nearly 130 years, Black's Law Dictionary has been the gold standard for the language of the law. With clarity and rigor, it defines more than 55,000 law-related words and phrases, recording their historical and present-day nuances. This edition introduces 3,500 new terms, including accountability, anticipatory self-defense, cyber force, Islamic law, Jewish law, legal moralism, legal reasoning, moral equality, peacekeeping, remotely piloted warfare, right to rebel, and umbrella clause.
- The Law Dictionary
The Law Dictionary (TLD) strives to be the most trusted source for free legal information online. The law is complicated at best, and confounding at worst. Trying to decipher legalese can just leave people feeling vulnerable. TLD is composed of two main sections: Legal Information and the Legal Dictionary. The TLD site features articles written by professionals who have received a Juris Doctor degree from an American Bar Association–approved law school, as well as the complete Black’s Law Dictionary Second Edition. - Glossary of Legislative Terms
Brief explanations of legislative terms used throughout Congress.gov.
Nolo's Encyclopedia of Everyday LawPublication Date: 2023Offers an overview of law, as it applies to everyday life, including information on credit and debt, workplace rights, wills, divorce, social security, landlord-tenant laws, child custody and visitation, and criminal law. See all Nolo's legal resources at BPL here.
- Encyclopedia of American Law
Click the link to enter Gale LegalForms. In the menu on the left, click "Law Digest". The Law Digest is a reference for identifying points of law from reported cases.The Law Digest uses the 4th edition of The Encyclopedia of American Law, a dictionary of legal terms, cases index, and general index. Formerly West's Encyclopedia of American Law.