October 26, 2001

term of art

What is the origin of term of art? Why is a legal term called a term of "art"?

The "art" in term of art is not art as in "artist" but art as in "artisan." A term of art, therefore, refers not to the fine arts, but to any specialized field of endeavor. As defined in Random House Webster's Dictionary of the Law (James E. Clapp), a term of art is "a word or phrase having a special meaning in a particular field, different from or more precise than its customary meaning." The phrase has been in use since at least 1628, when the English jurist Sir Edward Coke, in the preface to Coke upon Littleton, referred to "The Termes and Words of Art."

The idea of art as 'specialized skill' is far older than the idea of art as 'fine art'. This 'skill' sense has been in the English language since the early 13th century. And the word "art" (ultimately from Latin ars) meant 'skill' long before it entered English. According to an introduction to an art exhibition written by Professor Christopher L. C. E. Witcombe of Sweet Briar College, "The term for art in Greek (tekhne) and Latin (ars) does not specifically denote the 'fine arts' in the modern sense, but was applied to all kinds of human activities...based on knowledge and governed by rules. An individual became a painter or a sculptor, or a shoemaker, by learning the rules of the trade."

Painting and sculpture were perceived from ancient times through the Middle Ages as crafts. In fact, the Greek word for a painter or sculptor was banausos 'craftsman; mechanic'. According to the OED, our usual modern sense of "art"--the sense that comes to mind when we see or hear the word without any modifiers--"does not occur in any English Dictionary before 1880." (Their own researchers, however, found instances of its use dating from 1668.)

Legal terms of art enable a lawyer to use language precisely, clearly, and consistently; there is no deviation in either the form of the term or the sense it conveys. As a legal term, an "infant" refers to any child up to the age of majority, not just a baby, and a "foreign" corporation is one incorporated in any other jurisdiction, not necessarily another country.

An ordinary technical term for which there is no other word or phrase is not a term of art. That criterion would exclude "CPU" and "RAM" in the computer field and "Phillips screwdriver" in carpentry. But fields other than the law do have terms of art. Using these terms consistently makes it easier for members of the same field--the in-group--to understand one another. For example, according to Random House Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, "blanch," commonly 'to whiten', is a term of art with particular meanings in horticulture, metallurgy, and cooking. But only a pathologist would be likely to recognize a "nutmeg" liver or a "chicken-fat" clot.

Enid