PAROL

Definition

Parol means oral, verbal, or by word of mouth — as distinguished from written, and especially from written under seal. In law, parol describes transactions, agreements, evidence, or obligations that rest on spoken words or unsolemn writings, rather than on deeds or sealed instruments. The term appears most often in two distinct but related contexts: 1. Parol as oral or unsealed. A parol contract is one not made by deed — it may be written or oral, but it lacks the formality of a seal. A parol agreement is one resting on spoken words alone. Parol evidence is testimony or other extrinsic material offered to supplement or contradict a written instrument. 2. Parol as pleadings. In older usage rooted in law French, "the parol" referred collectively to the pleadings in an action, because pleadings were once conducted orally in open court — viva voce — before becoming written submissions. This sense is now largely obsolete in practice but appears in historical sources and older procedural texts.

Common Language

Modern common usage (Wiktionary): An ornamental star-like Christmas lantern from the Philippines. Historical common usage (Webster's 1913): "A word; an oral utterance. [Obs.] Oral declaration; word of mouth; also, a writing not under seal." The modern popular meaning has no connection to the legal term. The Webster's 1913 entry is more instructive and tracks the legal meaning closely — but note that even Webster's flags the purely oral sense as obsolete by 1913. Researchers should not let the common-language drift mislead them: in legal contexts, parol has never meant anything other than oral or unsealed expression.

Common Confusion

PAROL vs. PAROLE. These are different words with different meanings, though they share a common root and are routinely confused — even in legal writing. Parole in criminal law refers to conditional supervised release from prison. Parole in immigration law refers to the discretionary admission of a noncitizen who does not otherwise qualify for entry. Parol, by contrast, is a modifier describing something oral or unsolemn — it is almost always used as an adjective (parol evidence, parol contract, parol agreement) rather than standing alone as a noun. The spelling difference is the only surface marker, and historical sources do not always maintain it consistently. When reading older materials, context must determine which term is intended.

Why It Matters in Research

The parol evidence rule is one of the most litigated doctrines in contract law, and parol is the term that unlocks the index entries for it across every historical dictionary and digest. Researchers who search for "oral evidence" or "extrinsic evidence" alone will miss a substantial body of authority indexed under parol. The technical meaning of parol as "not under seal" — as opposed to purely "oral" — is a trap in historical sources. Before the widespread abolition of the seal requirement in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, the distinction between sealed (specialty) contracts and parol contracts had significant legal consequences: the statute of limitations ran differently, consideration rules differed, and certain defenses were available only to one type. A historical source describing a contract as parol may mean simply that it lacked a seal, not necessarily that it was unwritten. Anderson's and Burrill's both reflect this unsealed-instrument meaning. Researchers working with pre-twentieth-century materials must be alert to it. The pleadings sense of parol — "the parol" meaning the oral pleadings stage — appears in older English procedural texts and Year Books. It is rarely encountered in American practice materials but surfaces in treatises on common law pleading. Rapalje & Lawrence gestures toward the historical context: when literacy was rare, transactions of lesser formality were "testified by word of mouth or by parol." That social and evidentiary background explains why the parol evidence rule developed as a gatekeeping mechanism for written instruments. Corpus connections: The parol evidence rule entry at contracts_40 is the natural research destination for most questions involving this term. Researchers should also note that the immigration and criminal law entries for parole (immigration_93, criminal_241) are filed under the different spelling and involve an entirely different legal concept — cross-referencing those entries when researching contract parol evidence would be an error.

Historical Dictionary Support

The historical dictionaries are in strong agreement on the core definition: parol means oral or verbal, and more broadly, not by deed or sealed instrument. Black's (both editions) and Burrill's align precisely on this. Rapalje & Lawrence adds useful texture by situating the term historically — the contrast between sealed deeds and parol transactions maps directly onto the literacy rates and social practices of medieval England, which explains why the distinction carried such legal weight. Anderson's entry is unhelpful for this term; the text reproduced under parol is misattributed and appears to define park, not parol — a transcription or compilation error that researchers should flag when using that source. Black's (2nd Ed.) adds a notable cross-reference structure ("As to parol 'Agreement,' 'Arrest,' 'Demurrer,' 'Evidence'"), confirming that parol functions primarily as a modifier generating compound terms rather than as a standalone substantive concept. This is useful navigational intelligence: historical dictionary research on parol should almost always proceed to the compound entry (parol evidence, parol contract, parol demurrer) rather than stopping at the base term.

Jurisdictional Note

The parol evidence rule is a matter of both common law and, in some jurisdictions, codified statute or UCC Article 2 (for sale of goods). Its application — particularly the distinction between complete and partial integration — varies across jurisdictions. Some states apply the rule more strictly; others recognize broader exceptions for course of dealing and trade usage. Federal courts apply state parol evidence rules in diversity cases.

Encyclopedia Cross-Reference

contracts_40: Interpretation — Parol Evidence Rule (Complete vs. Partial Integration) (The Law Mind Contracts & Commercial Law Encyclopedia)

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