CLAUSULA

5 definitions found across Law Mind sources

CLAUSULAAuthored
The Law Mind • 972 words
Definition
A Latin term meaning a clause — a sentence or part of a sentence appearing in a written instrument, statute, or legal document. The term appears primarily in the context of Latin maxims governing rules of construction, particularly rules about how general clauses interact with specific provisions in the same instrument. In medieval and early modern legal practice, clausula designated a discrete unit of textual meaning within a charter, deed, or enactment, understood as a self-contained enclosure of words binding on the parties or subject. The term functions less as a standalone legal concept and more as the operative word within a set of canons of construction. The most significant of these: — Clausula generalis de residuo non ea complectitur quae non ejusdem sint generis cum iis quae speciatim dicta fuerant: A general clause of remainder (or reservation) does not embrace things that are not of the same kind as those which have been specially mentioned. This is an application of the ejusdem generis principle — general residual language is limited by the specific terms that precede it. — Clausula generalis non refertur ad expressa: A general clause does not refer to things expressly provided for elsewhere in the instrument. Specific provisions control over general ones. — Clausula quae abrogationem excludit ab initio non valet: A clause in a law that purports to prevent its own repeal is void from the beginning. No legislature can irrevocably bind future legislatures through a self-entrenchment clause.
Common Language
Modern common usage (Wiktionary): The conclusion of a passage; a cadence; or the close or end of a historical period; a clause. Historical common usage (Webster's 1913): Not distinctly attested as an English word; borrowed directly from Latin in legal and rhetorical contexts. Editorial note: The common usage tracks the Latin root faithfully — a closing, an enclosure of words. The legal meaning is narrower and more technical: clausula in legal sources refers specifically to a binding textual unit in an instrument or enactment, and most importantly to the maxims of construction that govern how such units interact. A researcher encountering clausula in historical sources should read it as a term of art pointing toward rules of interpretation, not merely descriptive reference to sentence structure.
Common Confusion
Clausula is sometimes loosely equated with conditio (condition) or provisio (proviso), but the terms are distinct. A clausula is a structural unit of text; a conditio imposes a contingency on a legal obligation; a provisio carves out an exception. The clausula maxims address how text is read, not what obligations arise from it. Researchers should also distinguish clausula from the modern concept of a boilerplate clause — the maxims governing clausula generalis concern interpretive priority and scope, not standardized contractual language.
Why It Matters in Research
Clausula will appear in Law Mind sources almost exclusively in three contexts: (1) as the subject-noun in Latin maxims on the rules of construction, (2) in medieval and early modern charter and deed analysis where Bracton and Fleta are cited, and (3) in treatise discussions of statutory interpretation. The critical research trap is treating clausula as merely decorative Latin for "clause" and glossing past the maxim it anchors. Each clausula maxim encodes a substantive rule of construction that courts applied — and that historical sources cite as authority in disputes over instrument interpretation. When you see clausula generalis in a 19th-century opinion or treatise, the question being resolved is almost always: does this catch-all or residual clause sweep in something not listed? The answer, under the maxim, is no — unless the unlisted thing is of the same genus as those listed. The self-entrenchment maxim — clausula quae abrogationem excludit ab initio non valet — has continuing relevance in constitutional and statutory research. It is the early modern ancestor of the doctrine that one legislature cannot bind its successors, a principle that surfaces in debates over entrenched statutes and constitutional lock-in provisions. Burrill is the most useful source for locating primary references to clausula in Bracton and Fleta. Black's dictionaries reproduce the maxims but truncate them in ways that can obscure their full meaning — researchers should verify against Lofft's Appendix or Broom's Legal Maxims where the complete formulations appear.
Historical Dictionary Support
All four source dictionaries agree on the core definition: a clause or part of a sentence in a written instrument or law. Burrill adds the most philological texture, tracing clausula to claudere (to enclose) and explaining the term as referring to words that enclose or include a defined legal meaning — a reading consistent with medieval charter drafting practice. Burrill is alone among the sources in citing Bracton (fol. 17b, 22b) and Fleta directly, grounding clausula in its actual medieval usage rather than treating it as an abstract definitional term. This makes Burrill the preferred starting point for research into pre-modern instrument analysis. Rapalje & Lawrence and both Black's editions reproduce the clausula generalis maxims in substantially identical form, citing Lofft's Appendix at page 419. The slight variation in translation — Black's renders the first maxim as "clause of remainder" while Rapalje uses "clause of reservation" — reflects genuine ambiguity in the Latin residuo; researchers should be alert to this when tracing how courts applied the maxim to specific instruments. None of the historical sources address the self-entrenchment maxim (clausula quae abrogationem excludit) with more than a fragment, and none connect it to modern constitutional doctrine. That connection must be developed from primary sources.
Encyclopedia Cross-Reference
See Law Mind Encyclopedia: Canons of Construction; Ejusdem Generis; Rules of Statutory Interpretation.
Related Terms
Clause; Ejusdem Generis; Expressio Unius Est Exclusio Alterius; Clausula Generalis; Conditio; Provisio; Canon of Construction; Residuary Clause; Nisi Prius (for Burrill's procedural usage); Repeal (for the self-entrenchment maxim).
CLAUSULAmain
Black's Law Dictionary • 1891
A clause; a sentence or part of a sentence in a written instrument or law. Clausula generalis de residuo non ea complectitur quæ non ejusdem sint gen- eris cum iis quæ speciatim dicta fue- rant. A general clause of remainder does not embrace those things which are not of the same kind with those which had been spe- cially mentioned. Lofft, Appendix, 419. Clausula generalis non refertur ad expressa. 8 Coke, 154. A general clause does not refer to things expressed. Clausula quæ abrogationem excludit ab initio non valet. A clause [in a law] which precludes its abrogation is void from the beginning. Bac. Max. 77. Clausula vel dispositio inutilis per presumptionem remotam, vel causam ex A useless clause post facto non fulcitur. or disposition [one which expresses no more than the law by intendment would have sup- plied] is not supported by a remote presump- tion, [or foreign intendment of some purpose, in regard whereof it might be material,] or by a cause arising afterwards, [which may induce an operation of those idle words.] Bac. Max. 82, regula 21. Clausule inconsuetæ semper inducunt suspicionem. Unusual clauses [in an in- strument] always induce suspicion. 3 Coke. 81.
CLAUSULAmain
Rapalje & Lawrence • 1888
- A clause (q. v.) used chiefly in such Latin sentences and maxims as the followingClausula generalis de residuo non ea complectitur quæ non ejusdem sint generis cum iis quæ speciatim dicta fuerunt: A general clause of reservation does not comprehend those things which may not be of the same kind with those which have been especially expressed. Lofft 419. Clausula generalis non refertur ad expressa: A general clause does not refer to things expressed. 8 Co. 154. Clausula quæ abrogationem excludit ab initio non valet: A declaration which excludes rescission is inoperative from the first. Clausula vel dispositio inutilis per præsumptionem remotam vel causam ex post facto non fulcitur: An unnecessary clause or disposition is not rendered valid by a remote presumption or a cause arising after the event. Bac. Max. Reg. 21. Clausulæ inconsuetæ semper inducunt suspicionem: Unusual clauses always excite suspicion. In Twyne's Case (1 Sm. Lead. Cas. 1), a deed containing a clause that the gift was made "honestly, truly, and bond fide," was held fraudulent and void, even although made for valuable consideration. CLAUSUM.-LATIN: claudere, to enclose. (1) A close, or enclosure of land. (2) Close, or closed, as breve clausum, a close writ. and the surviving partners carried on the business on their own account until July, 1810, when they became bankrupt. At the death of Devaynes, Clayton had a balance of £1713 on his cash account with the firm. Between the death of Devaynes and the bankruptcy, the payments made to Clayton by the surviving partners largely exceeded the £1713, and the payments so made amounted to £1260 within a few days after Devaynes' death, and before they had received any money whatever from Clayton. But their subsequent receipts largely exceeded the payments, and at the date of the bankruptcy the balance due on the account exceeded the amount of the balance due at Devaynes' death. Under these circumstances, Clayton claimed against the estate of Devaynes the £1713, after deducting the dividends received by him in the bankruptcy of the surviving partners. But it was held that in an account of this kind, in the absence of an express appropriation by the creditor, the first sum paid in is the first one drawn out; in other words, that the first payment by the banker must be set against the first receipt, and so on: consequently, no part of the £1713 remained due by the estate of Devaynes, because it had been drawn out by Clayton. 2. The rule in Clayton's Case does not apply where a person in a fiduciary position (e. g. a trustee) has paid money held by him in that character to his general account, and mixed it with his own money; for, in such a case, when he withdraws money from the account for his own purposes, he is deemed to withdraw it from that part of the fund which belonged to him, so as to leave the trust money intact. In re Hallett's Estate, 13 Ch. D. 696. CLEAN HANDS are required from a plaintiff, i. e. he must be free from reCLAUSUM FREGIT.-He broke the proach in his conduct. But there is this close. See CLOSE. limitation to the rule, that his conduct can CLAUSURA HEYÆ. - An enclosure of only be excepted to in respect of the suba hedge.
CLAUSULAmain
Burrill's Law Dictionary • 1867
L. Lat. [from claudere, to enclose.] A clause; a sentence or part of a sentence in a written instrument or law. So called, as enclosing or including certain words. Per clausulam contentam in charta. Bract. fol. 17 b, 22 b. In clausulâ de Nisi Prius; in the clause of Nisi Prius. Fleta, lib. 5, c. 11, § 7. Clausula quæ abrogationem excludit ab initio non valet. A clause [in a law] which precludes its abrogation, is void from the beginning. Bacon's Max. 77. A clause of this kind is called by Lord Bacon clausula derogatoria, or clausula de non obstante. Id. 74. Broom's Max. 24. Non impedit clausula derogatoria quo minus ab eadem potestate res dissolvantur a quibus constituuntur. A restraining or precluding clause does not [is of no force to] prevent things [laws or acts] from being dissolved by the same power by which they are made. Bacon's Max. 74, regula 19. Clausula generalis non refertur ad expressa. A general clause does not refer to things expressed. 8 Co. 154. Clausula generalis de residuo non ca complectitur quæ non ejusdem sint generis cum lis quæ speciatim dicta fuerant. A general clause of remainder does not embrace those things which are of the same kind with those which had been specially mentioned. Loffts' R. Appendix, 419. Clausula vel dispositio inutilis per presumptionem remotam, vel causam ex post facto non fulcitur. A useless clause or disposition [one which expresses no more than the law by intendment would have supplied,] is not supported by a remote presumption [or foreign intendment of some purpose, in regard whereof it might be material] or by a cause arising afterwards, [which may induce an operation of those idle words]. Bacon's Max. 82, regula 21. Broom's Max. [521.] Clausula inconsuetæ semper inducunt suspicionem. Unusual clauses [in an instrument] always induce suspicion. 3 Co. 81. Broom's Max. 217. An enclosure. Fleta, lib. 2, c. 47, § 1.
clausulanoun
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.
The conclusion of a passage; cadence. | The close or end of a historical period; clause.

Explore the full Law Mind legal research platform.

SubscribeEncyclopediaSign In