GAZETTE - The Law Mind Legal Dictionary

GAZETTEAuthored

The Law Mind • 1008 words

Definition

A gazette is an official periodical publication of a government, used as the authoritative vehicle for public notice of legal acts, state proceedings, and governmental decisions. In legal contexts, the term refers specifically to the official journal of record rather than a newspaper in the general sense.

The London Gazette is the paradigm case: the official publication of the British Crown, serving as evidence of acts of state and of all matters transacted by the monarch in a political capacity. Its legal significance is not merely descriptive — it carries evidentiary weight. Production of a copy of the Gazette containing a published order (such as an order of adjudication in bankruptcy) constitutes evidence, and in some instances conclusive evidence, of the fact and date of that order.

More broadly, a gazette is any analogous official publication in which a government publishes notices required by law to take legal effect: appointments, dissolutions, insolvencies, regulatory orders, and similar instruments. In jurisdictions that maintain such publications, the act of gazettal — publication in the official gazette — is often a legal prerequisite to the validity or enforceability of the noticed act.

Common Language

Modern common usage (Wiktionary): A newspaper or printed sheet published periodically; also, an official periodical publication of a government containing legal notices and, in some cases, legislation and subsidiary legislation.

Historical common usage (Webster's 1913): A newspaper; a printed sheet published periodically; especially the official journal published by the British government, containing legal and state notices.

Editorial note: The everyday sense of "gazette" as any newspaper is now largely archaic in American English, surviving mainly in the names of regional papers. The legal sense is narrower and more precise: a gazette is not merely a periodical but a publication whose contents carry official legal force. Conflating the two can cause researchers to underestimate the evidentiary significance a historical source attaches to gazette publication.

Common Confusion

Gazette vs. newspaper of general circulation: Many legal notice requirements specify publication in a "newspaper of general circulation" rather than in an official gazette. These are distinct mechanisms. A gazette is a government publication; a newspaper of general circulation is a privately published periodical meeting statutory criteria. Historical sources sometimes use the terms loosely, particularly in American materials where no federal official gazette equivalent to the London Gazette existed until the Federal Register was established in 1936.

Why It Matters in Research

Researchers working in English, Commonwealth, or colonial legal materials will encounter the Gazette repeatedly as a primary evidentiary source. The critical point: publication in the Gazette was not merely notice — it was proof. When a historical source says an order "appeared in the Gazette," that statement carries legal weight beyond mere publicity.

Several traps exist in corpus research:

First, the evidentiary standard shifted subtly between editions of the historical dictionaries. Black's 1st edition and Bouvier describe gazette copies as "evidence" of adjudication in bankruptcy; Bouvier goes further, calling such copies "conclusive evidence" of the fact and date. Researchers must be alert to whether a source treats gazette publication as prima facie or conclusive proof, as the distinction matters in contested proceedings.

Second, American researchers may incorrectly assume a domestic equivalent. The United States had no single official gazette in the English sense for most of its early history. Federal and state official notice requirements developed differently — through newspapers of record, congressional documents, and eventually the Federal Register and Code of Federal Regulations. Reading American legal materials through the lens of the Gazette model will produce errors.

Third, the term "gazette" in colonial and post-colonial Commonwealth jurisdictions (India, Australia, Canada, and others) tracks the English model closely: gazettes in those systems similarly carry binding legal force for publication requirements. This can create research continuity across a corpus spanning English and Commonwealth sources, but researchers must verify jurisdiction-specific rules.

Fourth, the verb form "gazetted" — meaning officially announced or appointed through gazette publication — appears in military, civil service, and bankruptcy contexts. A person "gazetted" to a rank or position has had that appointment publicly recorded in an official publication. This usage is almost entirely absent from American legal sources but common in British and Commonwealth materials.

Historical Dictionary Support

Black's Law Dictionary (both editions) and Bouvier agree on the core definition: the Gazette is the official British government publication and is evidence of acts of state and things done by the Crown in its political capacity. Both editions of Black's specify orders of adjudication in bankruptcy as the paradigmatic gazette notice. Bouvier adds the detail that such a copy is "conclusive evidence" of the fact and date, a stronger evidentiary formulation than Black's "evidence of the fact."

Anderson's Dictionary of Law entry retrieved under this heading appears to be a misfiled entry on ganancias (community property gains in Spanish-derived law) and contains no relevant material on gazette. Researchers should treat the Anderson entry as a corpus indexing artifact.

Notably, none of the historical dictionaries address the American context or acknowledge the absence of a direct domestic equivalent, reflecting their English-law orientation. This is a meaningful gap for researchers using these sources in American legal history work.

Jurisdictional Note

In England and Commonwealth jurisdictions, gazette publication retains formal legal significance and is often a statutory prerequisite for specified acts to take effect. In the United States, the Federal Register performs an analogous function for federal administrative and executive notices, but the analogy is imperfect — the Federal Register's legal role is defined by the Federal Register Act and the Administrative Procedure Act, not by common law evidentiary tradition. State equivalents vary widely.

Encyclopedia Cross-Reference

See Law Mind Encyclopedia — Official Notices; Publication Requirements in Bankruptcy; Federal Register (U.S.)

GAZETTEmain

Black's Law Dictionary • 1891

The official publication of the English government, also called the "London Gazette." It is evidence of acts of stats, and of everything done by the queen in her political capacity. Orders of adjudica- tion in bankruptcy are required to be pub- lished therein; and the production of a copy of the "Gazette," containing a copy of the order of adjudication, is evidence of the fact. Mozicy & Whitley.

GAZETTEmain

Anderson's Dictionary of Law • 1890

"The right to gananicas is founded in the partnership which is supposed to exist between husband and wife, because, she bringing her fortune in dote, gift and paraphernalia, and he his in the estate and property which he possesses, it is directed that the gains, which result from the joint employment of this mass, be equally divided." 1 That property which husband and wife, living to gether, acquire during matrimony by a common title, lucrative or onerous; or that acquired by either or both, by purchase or industry; also, the fruits of the separate property which each brings to the matrimony or acquires by lucrative title during the continuance of the partnership. The gain is common to both.2 Originally, a piece of money current at Venice; next the price at which Garnishment. The process of warning sheets of news were sold; then the sheets or citation.4 Originally, a notice to a person not a party to a suit, to appear in court and explain his interest in the subject-matter of the litigation or to furnish other information. Now, the act or proceeding of attaching money or property belonging to a judgment debtor but in the possession of a third person. Otherwise known as factorizing," "garnishee," or "trustee process.” In the nature of an equitable attachment of the debt or assets of the principal defendant in the hands of a third person. Its object is to reach such assets and apply them in discharge of the principal debt." 1 [Cutter v. Waddingham, ante. themselves.6 The official publication of the English government; also called the "London Gazette." It is evidence of acts of state, and of all political acts performed by the Queen; orders of adjudication in bankruptcy are also published in it. "When the defendant cannot be found to be served with a subpœna in chancery, a day for him to appear, being first appointed, is inserted in the Lon1 Strickland v. Maddox, 4 Ga. 394 (1848); Western R. Co. v. Thornton, 60 id. 306 (1878); Curry v. Woodward, 50 Ala. 260 (1873); Harris v. Miller, 71 id. 32 (1881); Rose v. Whaley, 14 La. An. 374 (1859); Schindler v. Smith, 18 id. 479 (1866); Perkins v. Guy, 2 Monta. 20 (1873); Oregon R. & Nav. Co. v. Gates, 10 Oreg. 515 (1882); Godding v. Pierce, 13 R. I. 533 (1882); Steen v. Norton, [Cartwright v. Cartwright, 18 Tex. 634 (1857), Hemp45 Wis. 414 (1878); Bickle v. Chrisman, 76 Va. 691 (1882). hill, C. J. *F. garnir: A. S. warnian. See G. * [Smith v. Miln, 1 Abb. Adm. 280 (1848), Betts, J. * [Welsh v. Blackwell, 14 N. J. L. 348 (1834): 3 Jacob, 175; Pennsylvania R. Co. v. Pennock, 51 Pa. 254 (1865). 622 Alb. Law J. 181 (1880). Bethel v. Judge of Superior Court, 57 Mich. 381 (1885), Champlin, J. 2 Lane's Appeal, 105 Pa. 65 (1884). 3 Miller v. United States, 11 Wall. 297 (1870), Strong, J.; Schuler v. Israel, 120 id. 506 (1887); 24 Am. Law Reg. 625-34 (1885), cases. Inter-State exemptions, 21 Cent. Law J. 425-28 (1885), cases. "Gave all kinde," -1 Coke, Litt. 140 a. See 1 Bl. Com. 75; 2 id. 84; Williams, R. P. 124-26. • Trench, Glossary.

GAZETTEmain

Bouvier's Law Dictionary • 1928

The official publication of the British government, also called the London Gazette. It is evidence of acts of state, and of everything done by the queen in her political capacity. Orders of adjudi- cation in bankruptcy are required to be published therein, and a copy of the Gazette containing such publication is conclusive evidence of the fact, and of the date there- of. Moz. & W. 37. GEBOCCED (Anglo-Saxon). Conveyed. GEBUR (Sax.). A boor. Maitl. Domesd. GEBURSCIPA, or GEBURSCIR. Neighborhood, or adjessing district. Cun-

GAZETTEn.

Websters Unabridged Dictionary (1913) • 1913

A newspaper; a printed sheet published periodically; esp., the official journal published by the British government, and containing legal and state notices.

GAZETTEv.

Websters Unabridged Dictionary (1913) • 1913

To announce or publish in a gazette; to announce officially, as an appointment, or a case of bankruptcy.

gazettenoun

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.

A newspaper; a printed sheet published periodically. | An official periodical publication published by a government containing legal and state notices, and in some cases, legislations, subsidiary legislations and bills.

gazetteverb

Wiktionary (English) • 2026

To publish (something) in a gazette. | To announce the status of (someone) in an official gazette; this pertained to both appointments and bankruptcies.

Gazettename

Wiktionary (English) • 2026

A locality in the Shire of Moyne and the Shire of Southern Grampians, south western Victoria, Australia

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