ADJOINING

7 definitions found across Law Mind sources

ADJOININGAuthored
The Law Mind • 915 words
Definition
In law, adjoining means physically touching or contiguous — sharing an actual boundary line or point of contact. It is not satisfied by mere proximity, however close. Two parcels are adjoining when they share a common border; they are not adjoining simply because they lie near one another. This distinction carries legal weight wherever the term appears in statutes, deeds, zoning ordinances, and conveyancing instruments. When a legislature or drafter uses "adjoining," courts have consistently read it to require actual contact, not just nearness.
Common Language
Modern common usage (Wiktionary): Being in contact at some point or line; joining to. Historical common usage (Webster's 1913): Joining to; contiguous; adjacent — used loosely to mean nearby, as in "the adjoining room" or "hills adjoining to the city." The gap here is real but subtle. In ordinary speech, "adjoining" and "adjacent" are used interchangeably, and "the adjoining town" may mean simply the next town over, with or without a shared boundary. In legal usage — particularly in property law and statutory interpretation — courts have refused to accept this looseness. "Adjoining" requires contact; "adjacent" may not. A researcher treating these as synonyms in legal documents will miss a material distinction.
Common Confusion
ADJOINING vs. ADJACENT: These two terms are the central confusion. "Adjacent" is the broader term: it encompasses both parcels that touch and parcels that are merely near. "Adjoining" is the narrower term: courts have generally held it to require contiguity — actual physical contact along a boundary. The mistake runs in both directions. Laypeople use "adjoining" to mean merely nearby; some older legal sources use the terms interchangeably. When a statute or deed uses one word, substituting the other can change the legal result. ADJOINING vs. ABUTTING: "Abutting" also implies contact, but carries a stronger directional sense — one parcel butting up against another, often along a road or structure. Anderson's notes that "abutting" usually, though not necessarily, imports contact. In most contexts, adjoining and abutting overlap substantially, but abutting is more commonly used in highway and street-frontage contexts. See ABUTTING.
Why It Matters in Research
The adjoining/adjacent distinction is a recurring trap in historical property records, boundary disputes, and statutory construction cases. When reading nineteenth-century deeds and conveyances, be alert to the fact that Bouvier acknowledges "adjoining" had no fixed popular meaning and was frequently used to express mere nearness — meaning older documents may not reflect the stricter legal standard courts later applied. A deed using "adjoining" loosely does not automatically establish contiguity as a fact. In zoning and land use statutes, "adjoining landowner" or "adjoining property" defines who receives notice, who has standing to object, and who qualifies for certain variances. The difference between a touching parcel and a merely nearby parcel can determine whether a party has legal standing at all. Researchers working across jurisdictions should check whether a given court or statute has defined "adjoining" explicitly, because popular usage bleeds into older local records. The New York cases cited in Black's and Bouvier's represent the stricter construction; Missouri authority cited in Bouvier's acknowledged the popular conflation with nearness. This is not a resolved uniformity across all American jurisdictions. When tracing the term through the Law Mind corpus, expect it to appear most heavily in: property boundary disputes, statutory notice provisions, nuisance and encroachment cases, municipal ordinances, and conveyancing instruments. Treat any instance where "adjoining" appears alongside "adjacent" in the same document as a potential signal that the drafter intended different meanings for each.
Historical Dictionary Support
All four source dictionaries agree on the core proposition: "adjoining," in its etymological and legal sense, means touching or contiguous, not merely near. Black's (both editions) state this directly and without qualification. Bouvier's agrees but then candidly adds what the others omit — that in popular use, the word "seems to have no fixed meaning" and frequently expresses only nearness. This is an unusually honest acknowledgment of the gap between legal precision and documentary reality. Anderson's does not treat "adjoining" as a standalone entry in the excerpted material, but its discussion of "abutting" as a related concept fills in the practical overlap between the terms. The historical sources are consistent in pointing to New York authority for the strict contiguity reading. Bouvier's adds Missouri authority recognizing the popular conflation. Neither source explores how courts handle the ambiguity when a document uses "adjoining" in what appears to be the looser popular sense — a gap that remains relevant for researchers evaluating historical instruments.
Jurisdictional Note
Most American courts follow the strict construction: adjoining requires actual contact, not mere proximity. However, older instruments and some state courts have allowed the looser popular meaning to govern when context makes clear the drafter did not intend a strict boundary-contact requirement. Researchers should not assume uniform application of the strict rule without checking the governing jurisdiction's case law.
Related Terms
Adjacent — broader term; may include parcels that are near but not touching Abutting — implies contactparticularly along roads or structures; see ABUTTING Contiguous — near-synonym for adjoining in its strict legal sense; often used in constitutional and statutory contexts Boundary — the line that adjoining parcels share Easement — a right that may be created or affected by the adjoining relationship of parcels Notice (statutory) — adjoining owner status frequently triggers notice requirements in land use proceedings
ADJOININGmain
Black's Law Dictionary • 1891
The word "adjoining," in its etymological sense, means touching or contiguous, as distinguished from lying near to or adjacent. And the same meaning has definitively or for an interval. If the adjourn- been given to it when used in statutes. 52 N. Y. 397. See, ADJACENT.
ADJOININGmain
Bouvier's Law Dictionary • 1928
The word in its etymo- logical sense, means touching or contigu- ous, as distinguished from lying near or adjacent. 53 N. Y. 897. The words *along" and "adjoining" are used as synonymous terms and as used in a statute imply contiguity, contact; 67 Mo. 58. In popular use seems to have no fixed meaning. Frequently expresses nearness. Id. 3 Park. Cr. R. 72. What is "adjacent" may be separated by the intervention of a third object. What is "adjoining" must touch in some part. What is "contiguous," strictly speaking, should touch along one side. Id.; bid. Towns contiguous at their corners are adjoining. Id.; 31 N. Y. 293. The whole yard of a house, though divided by a street, from which it is fenced off, is adjoining or appurtenant to the house. Id.; 101 Masa. 25. See APPERTAINING. ADJOURN (Fr. adjourner). To put off; to dismiss till an appointed day, or without any such appointment. See AD-
ADJOININGmain
Anderson's Dictionary of Law • 1890
Compare Abutment. The part of a bridge which touches the land. See BRIDGE. Abuttal. The point at which tracts of land meet; the butting or bounding of lands. Abutting. Usually, although not necesIn conveyancing, an abstract or summary sarily, imports "in contact" with.5 1 Johnson's Adm. v. Johnson, 32 Ala. 640-42 (1858), cases, Walker, J. 2 Converse v. Kellogg, 7 Barb. 597 (1850); 2 N. Y. 357. 3 Hough v. City Fire Ins. Co., 29 Conn. 20 (1860), Sanford, J.; Williams v. Buffalo German Ins. Co., 17 F. R. 65 (1883), cases. 4 L. abs-trahere, to draw away or off. • United States v. Northway (President Second Nat. Bank of Jefferson, Ohio), 120 U. S. 327, 334-36 (1887), Matthews, J. • [Dickinson v. Railroad Co., 7 W. Va. 413 (1874). • Wilhite v. Barr, 67 Μο. 286 (1878). Properties abut upon a street; and their owners are abutting owners. See further STREET. Touching or contiguous, as distinguished from lying near or adjacent; in contact with.8 In popular use seems to have no fixed meaning. Frequently expresses nearness. 9 What is "adjacent" may be separated by the intervention of a third object. What is "adjoining" must judgment in a case. Adjudicated. Judicially determined: as, an adjudicated - case, bankrupt. Adjudication. Determination by judicial authority. Former adjudication. Judicial determination of a matter previously in litigation. When the judgment, rendered in the former trial between the same parties, is used as a technical estoppel, or is relied upon by way of evidence as conclusive per se, it must appear, by the record of the prior suit, that the particular controversy sought to be concluded was necessarily tried and determined - that touch in some part. What is "contiguous," strictly ❘ is, if the record of the former trial shows that the verspeaking, should touch along one side. Towns contiguous at their corners are adjoining.10 The whole yard of a house of correction, though divided by a street, from which it is fenced off, is adjoining or appurtenant to the house. 11 Compare ABUT; ADJACENT; APPERTAIN. Watson v. Sutherland, 5 Wall. 79 (1866). * Electro-Magnetic Mining, &c. Co. v. Van Auken, 9 Col. 207 (1886); Gray v. Truby, 6 id. 278 (1882); Gen. Laws Col. 630, § 7. 3 L. adjacere, to lie near. Municipality No. Two, 7 La. An. 79 (1852), Eustis, C. J. See Continental Improv. Co. v. Phelps, 47 Mich. 299 (1882). United States v. Denver, &c. R. Co. 31 F. R. 886, 889 (1887), Hallett, J. • United States v. Chaplin, 31 F. R. 890, 896 (1887), Deady, J. F. adjoinder: L. ad-jungere, to join to. • Re Ward, 52 N. Y. 397 (1873); Miller v. Mann, 55 Vt. 479 (1882); Akers v. United R. Co., 43 N. J. L. 110 (1881). • Peverelly v. People, 3 Park. Cr. R. 69, 72 (1855); Crabbe, Syn. 10 Holmes v. Carley, 31 Ν. Υ. 289, 293 (1865). 11 Commonwealth v. Curley, 101 Mass. 25 (1869). dict could not have been rendered without deciding the particular matter, it will be considered as having settled that matter as between the parties; and where the record does not show that the matter was necessarily and directly found by the jury, evidence aliunde consistent with the record may be received to prove the fact; but, even where it appears extrinsically that the matter was properly within the issue controverted in the former suit, if it be not shown that the verdict and judgment necessarily involved its determination, it will not be concluded.7 The former adjudication is a finality, concluding 1F. adjorner, to put off to another day. 2 La Farge v. Van Wagenen, 14 How. Pr. 58 (1857). • Wilson v. Lott, 5 Fla. 303 (1853). Van Dyke v. State, 22 Ala. 60 (1853); 6 Wheat. 109. • Trammell v. Bradley, 37 Ark. 379 (1881); 1 Bl. Com. 187. State v. Price, 11 N. J. L. 218 (1830); Blaufus v. People, 69 N. Y. 111 (1877). * Packet Company v. Sickles, 5 Wall. 592 (1866), cases, Nelson, J.; Aurora City v. West, 7 id. 102-3 (1868), cases; Goodenow v. Litchfield, 59 Iowa, 231 (1882); ib. 549.
ADJOININGa.
Websters Unabridged Dictionary (1913) • 1913
Joining to; contiguous; adjacent; as, an adjoining room. "The adjoining fane." Dryden. Upon the hills adjoining to the city. Shak.
adjoiningadj
Wiktionary (English) • 2026
Wiktionary contributorsCC BY-SA 4.0 • via Kaikki
Extracted and formatted for display by Law Mind. Source link opens the current Wiktionary page and its contributor history; it is not a frozen copy of this extract.
Being in contact at some point or line; joining to.
adjoiningverb
Wiktionary (English) • 2026
Wiktionary contributorsCC BY-SA 4.0 • via Kaikki
Extracted and formatted for display by Law Mind. Source link opens the current Wiktionary page and its contributor history; it is not a frozen copy of this extract.
present participle and gerund of adjoin

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