APP - The Law Mind Legal Dictionary

APPAuthored

The Law Mind • 901 words

Definition

In legal research contexts, APP is a standard abbreviation used in two primary ways:

Appeals / Appellate. APP most commonly abbreviates "appeals" or "appellate" in case citations, court names, reporter titles, and procedural designations. A citation to an "App. Ct." is to an appellate court; a notation "on app." signals that a matter is on appeal or was resolved at the appellate level.

Appendix. In brief-writing conventions and court filings, APP. or App. frequently denotes the appendix to a brief, record, or statutory compilation. "App. at 12" directs a reader to page 12 of an accompanying appendix.

Application. In some older legal usage and in certain procedural contexts — particularly those involving motions and petitions — APP abbreviates "application," as in an application for a writ, for attachment, or for leave to appeal.

Common Language

Modern common usage (Wiktionary): Abbreviation of "appeals."

Historical common usage: Webster's 1913 does not list APP as a standalone entry; "app." appears incidentally as a printer's abbreviation.

The common-language abbreviation tracks the legal use closely but incompletely. A general reader seeing "app." in a modern document will instinctively read it as "appeals." A legal researcher must also recognize the appendix and application senses, which are live in practice and can produce misreading when context is not carefully checked.

Common Confusion

APP (appeals or appellate) is sometimes conflated with APPX or APPNDX (appendix) and with APPL (application or applicant), but in practice all three abbreviations coexist in the same documents — briefs, for instance, routinely contain citations to both "App. Ct." and "App. at ___" meaning two different things on the same page. Researchers should resolve the meaning from syntactic context: a page number following the abbreviation signals appendix; a court name or procedural label signals appellate; a motion or writ context signals application.

Why It Matters in Research

Abbreviation ambiguity is one of the quieter research hazards in the Law Mind corpus. Several practical issues arise:

Reporter and court name overlaps. Many historical reporters use APP or APP. as part of their title or shorthand (e.g., various state appellate reporters). Confusing a reporter abbreviation for a procedural notation — or vice versa — can send a researcher to the wrong volume entirely.

Historical usage of "appeal" differs from modern appellate practice. The Burrill source material referenced here points to the older English "appeal of murder" and similar criminal appeals, which were sui generis proceedings bearing little resemblance to modern appellate review. When APP appears in pre-nineteenth-century English sources, the appeal being referenced may be this now-abolished form rather than a modern interlocutory or final appeal. Burrill notes they were abolished in England by 59 Geo. III. c. 46. Researchers encountering APP in connection with criminal proceedings in sources predating that statute should consider whether the reference is to the ancient appeal of felony rather than to appellate review.

Applicant / Application in procedural statutes. The Rapalje & Lawrence source uses "applicant" in the context of attachment acts and road acts, and flags that "applicatio est vita regulae" — the application is the life of the rule — was a recognized maxim. When APP appears in older statutory and procedural materials as an abbreviation, the application sense is underrepresented in modern abbreviation tables, making it easy to overlook.

Appendix conventions vary by court and era. Federal appellate practice, Bluebook conventions, and individual court rules have not been uniform over time in how they abbreviate appendix references. Pre-Bluebook sources may use App., Appx., or no abbreviation at all.

Historical Dictionary Support

Burrill's Law Dictionary does not provide a standalone entry for APP as an abbreviation, but devotes substantial space to APPEAL in its historical sense — the criminal appeal of murder, mayhem, and felony — citing Littleton, Blackstone, Wooddeson, and Barrington. This appeal was "a noble remedy, and a badge of the rights and liberties of an Englishman," in Lord Holt's formulation (Rex v. Toler, 1 Ld. Raym. 555, 557). That the historical dictionaries treat appeal primarily in this extinct sense is instructive: researchers using Burrill as a guide to older sources will need to consciously shift frames when moving into modern appellate materials.

Rapalje & Lawrence's entries under the APP cluster — applicable, applicant, application — confirm the currency of the application sense in nineteenth-century American procedural law, with references to New Jersey attachment and road acts. The maxim "applicatio est vita regulae" appears as a live principle of statutory interpretation, not mere Latin decoration.

Neither source treats APP as an abbreviation entry in the modern reference sense, which reflects the later standardization of legal citation forms.

Jurisdictional Note

Abbreviation conventions for appellate courts vary by jurisdiction and era. Some state reporters use App., Apps., or App. Div. to distinguish intermediate appellate courts from courts of last resort. Federal practice distinguishes Cir. (circuit) from App. (used in some specialized courts, such as the Court of Appeals for the Armed Forces, abbreviated C.A.A.F., and the Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims). Researchers should verify abbreviation tables specific to the jurisdiction and period under study.

Encyclopedia Cross-Reference

Law Mind Encyclopedia — Appeals
Law Mind Encyclopedia — Abbreviations in Legal Sources
Law Mind Encyclopedia — Appellate Procedure

APPmain

Rapalje & Lawrence • 1888

TAINING, (defined). 1 Bing. 483. (lands, in a devise). 1 P. Wms. 603.. APPLI IBLE, (in constitutional provision). 8 Nev. 322. APPLICANT, (in attachment act). 2 Green (N. J.) 441; 6 Halst. (N. J.) 173. (in road act). Penn. (N. J.) 643. Applicatio est vita regule: The application is the life of the rule.

APPmain

Burrill's Law Dictionary • 1867

(108) (109) (110) Litt. 287 b. 4 Bl. Com. 314. 2 Wooddes. Lect. 337. Barringt. Obs. Stat. 27. They were abolished in England by statute 59 Geo. III. c. 46. Lord Holt once said he esteemed an appeal a noble remedy, and a badge of the rights and liberties of an Englishman. Rex v. Toler, 1 Ld. Raym. 555, 557. For the proceedings on an appeal of murder, see Bigby v. Kennedy, 2 W. Bl. 710. S. C. 5 Burr. 2463. The last appeal of this kind was Ashford v. Thornton, 1 B. & Ald. 405. of re-examination or review.* 4 Bl. Com. and maihem, and were in general triable by 312. Story, J. 1 Gallison's R. 12, 13. battel. Bract. lib. 3, tr. 2, cc. 19-30. An appeal, in the most general sense, Britt. c. 22. Fleta, lib. 3, c. 31. Co. embraces the proceedings by writ of error and certiorari, but, strictly and practically, it is distinct from both. 3 Bl. Com. 55, 454. See Certiorari, Writ of error. In its technical sense, it is peculiar to courts of equity, and other courts which proceed according to the course of the civil law; the judgments of courts of common law being removed by writ of error. An appeal removes a cause entirely, subjecting the fact as well as the law to a review and re-trial; a writ of error removes nothing for re-examination but the law. Story, J. 1 Gallison's R. 12, 13. Story on the Constitution, § 1762. Id. (Abr.) § 917. See Federalist, No. 81. United States Digest, Appeal. The word itself comes from the civil law. See Appellatio. (111) answer to the action. It is, in other words, To appeal from the sentence or decision the prescribed mode of complying with the of an inferior judge or court, to a superior, exigency of the plaintiff's process; the de- (ab inferioris judicis sententia ad superiofendant admitting, by his appearance, that rem provocare.) Calv. Lex. Literally, to he has had a general intimation of the call out, to call to, to call upon, [i. e. for suit, and is ready to receive a more particurelief;] which is the sense of the Latin lar statement of its ground and object. 3 equivalent provocare, and the Gr. Ekkadεtodai. Steph. Com. 564. Appearance is the first Appellare adversus sententiam; to appeal act of the defendant in court, and, until it against a sentence. Dig. 48. 3. 18. De is properly effected, no judgment can be sententia judicis appellare. Cod. 7. 16. 4. awarded against him in any personal Story, J. 1 Gallison's R. 13. See Appello, action. Id. ibid. 1 Tidd's Pr. 238. Appellatio. In actions at law, an appearance is effected either by putting in sufficient bail, where the action requires bail; or, in nonbailable actions, by endorsing on the process served a memorandum authorizing the clerk to enter an appearance; or, in some cases, by filing common bail, or entering a common appearance. 1 Tidd's Pr. 238240. Archb. New Pr. 71. A simple notice of appearance or retainer is also sometimes made equivalent to an appearance. 1 Burr. Pr. 112. A distinction, however, is made between an appearance and putting in bail, which is properly the act of the court itself. 1 Tidd's Pr. 238. In equity, an appearance is usually effected by the solicitor of the defendant filing with the clerk a memorandum requesting the entry of his appearance in the action. 1 Daniell's Chanc. Pr. 590. 1 Barbour's Chanc. Pr. 79. See Bail, Common bail, Common appearance. (112) ( 113 ) rived from the civil law. In the passage, mode of executing the power is not denavem ad eas [ripas] appellere, some copies fined. 3 Kent's Com. 330. 1 Powell on have applicare. Dig. 1. 8. 5. Devises, 65-71. It is not considered as (114) Jur. § 475 a, note. A term applied to rents, common, and other incorporeal hereditaments. See infra. (115) dere, to take hold of.] In practice. take or take hold of; to take a person criminal process. To on (116) Plowd. 102 a. Barristers are styled in the ( 117 ) law. To take to one's own separate use; 2 Bl. Com. 34. 3 Id. 240. 1 Crabb's to appropriate; to approve. Appropriare Real Prop. 291, § 319. Id. 306, § 342. et includere [communiam]; to approve, or Cowell. separate and enclose a common; to discommon it. Bract. fol. 228. Kennett's Par. Ant. 336.

Appnoun

Wiktionary (English) • 2026

Wiktionary contributors • CC 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.

Abbreviation of appeals.

Appnoun

Wiktionary (English) • 2026

Alternative form of app. | Abbreviation of approach.

appnoun

Wiktionary (English) • 2026

appetizer

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