Definition
A conveyancing phrase used to introduce the description of the boundaries of a parcel of land in a deed or other instrument of conveyance. Functionally equivalent to "bounded and described as follows" or similar introductory language, it signals that the instrument is about to set out the limits and extent of the property being conveyed. The phrase appears primarily in older deeds and is closely associated with the metes and bounds system of land description.
Common Language
This is pure legal and conveyancing jargon with no meaningful counterpart in ordinary English. The individual words "butted" and "bounded" exist in common usage, but their combination as a fixed phrase of art belongs entirely to the technical vocabulary of land conveyancing. Omitted here accordingly.
Common Confusion
BUTTED AND BOUNDED vs. METES AND BOUNDS: The phrase "butted and bounded" is an introductory formula — it announces that a boundary description follows. "Metes and bounds" refers to the actual system of description that typically follows: courses, distances, and monuments marking the property's perimeter. A deed might be introduced with "butted and bounded as follows" and then proceed to recite metes and bounds. The two are companion concepts, not synonyms.
BUTTED AND BOUNDED vs. BUTTS AND BOUNDS: Historical sources, including both editions of Black's, direct readers from "butted and bounded" to the entry for BUTTS (or BUTTS AND BOUNDS). "Butts and bounds" is the more substantive term, referring to the boundary lines and terminal points of a tract. "Butted and bounded" is the verbal or participial form used in the operative language of a deed; "butts and bounds" describes the subject matter of that description. Researchers encountering either phrase in historical instruments should consult both entries.
Why It Matters in Research
Structural pattern: This is a historical evolution term with deep archaic roots and narrow practical scope. It appears almost exclusively in historical sources and instruments.
Researchers are most likely to encounter "butted and bounded" when reading or abstracting older deeds, particularly those from colonial and early American periods, or from English conveyancing practice. The phrase is a marker of document age — its presence in an instrument is a reliable indicator that the description that follows will use metes and bounds rather than a government survey township-and-range description, and that the deed likely predates widespread plat mapping in the relevant jurisdiction.
Trap for historical researchers: Because the phrase is purely introductory and carries no independent legal weight, courts interpreting disputed property descriptions have focused entirely on the substance of the boundary description that follows, not on the introductory formula. Finding "butted and bounded" in a deed tells you how to read what comes next, not what the boundaries actually are.
Corpus navigation note: In Law Mind sources, this term will surface primarily in deed abstracts, conveyancing treatises, and materials dealing with title chains in eastern states where metes and bounds descriptions predominate. Researchers working on boundary disputes, adverse possession chains of title, or colonial-era land grants should treat this phrase as a flag to examine the full boundary description carefully and cross-reference the BUTTS AND BOUNDS and METES AND BOUNDS entries for interpretive guidance.
Jurisdictional relevance: The phrase is more common in older instruments from states whose land titles derive from colonial or pre-rectangular-survey sources — primarily the original thirteen states and other eastern jurisdictions. It is rarely encountered in instruments from states organized under the federal Public Land Survey System.
Historical Dictionary Support
Black's Law Dictionary (both first and second editions) and Burrill's Law Dictionary agree precisely on substance: "butted and bounded" is a conveyancing phrase used to introduce or denote the boundaries of lands. All three sources are nearly identical in their treatment and all cross-reference either BUTTS or BUTTS AND BOUNDS as the substantive entry. The consistency across sources is notable — there is no meaningful divergence in how historical dictionaries treated this term.
What the historical sources do not address: None of the dictionary entries explain the origin of "butted" as distinct from "bounded," nor do they discuss how courts have handled disputes arising from deeds using this language. The historical dictionaries treat the phrase as self-explanatory shorthand and defer all substantive discussion to the BUTTS AND BOUNDS entry. Researchers should not rely on the dictionary entry alone for interpretive guidance on specific instruments.
Jurisdictional Note
The phrase appears most frequently in conveyancing instruments from eastern states operating under metes and bounds land description systems. It is essentially absent from instruments in states organized under the federal rectangular survey system, where standardized legal descriptions by township, range, and section replaced older boundary introduction formulas. Researchers working in mixed-system jurisdictions should note which description system governs the parcel in question.
Encyclopedia Cross-Reference
Property Descriptions — Metes and Bounds, Government Survey, Plat Maps, and Ambiguity (The Law Mind Real Estate Transactions & Construction Encyclopedia)