Definition
To belong to, relate to, or have connection with something — whether by nature, legal appointment, custom, or circumstance. In legal usage, "pertain" signals that one thing is associated with, incident to, or within the scope of another. It appears most frequently in conveyancing language, statutory grants, and property descriptions, where it links appurtenant rights, duties, or interests to a principal subject. A right that "pertains to" an estate travels with that estate; a matter that "pertains to" a subject-matter clause falls within its scope.
Common Language
Modern common usage (Wiktionary): To belong to or be connected as a part, adjunct, attribute, or accessory; to relate to, concern, or be relevant to; to apply or remain in place; to be appropriate or suitable.
Historical common usage (Webster's 1913): To belong; to have connection with, or dependence on, something, as an appurtenance, attribute, or the like; to have relation or reference to something.
The common and legal meanings are closely aligned, but the legal register carries more weight than ordinary usage suggests. In a deed or statutory grant, "pertain" is not casual connective language — it is operative. Whether a right or obligation "pertains to" the subject of an instrument can determine whether that right or obligation transfers, runs with the land, or falls within a court's jurisdiction. Readers accustomed to the word's casual meaning (roughly, "relates to") may underestimate its legal force in transactional or conveyancing contexts.
Why It Matters in Research
"Pertain" is a word researchers are likely to encounter rather than search for directly. Its significance lies in context: the term does substantial legal work inside property instruments, statutes defining scope of authority, and jurisdictional grants. In deeds and conveyances, "together with all rights and appurtenances pertaining thereto" is near-formulaic, and the breadth of what actually pertains — easements, mineral rights, riparian rights — has generated substantial case law that will not surface from a search on "pertain" alone. Researchers should use the term as a signal to look for appurtenance disputes and scope-of-grant questions.
In older corpus materials, "pertain" and "appertain" are used interchangeably. Black's 2nd Ed. cross-references without distinguishing them, and courts historically treated the terms as synonymous. In more recent statutory drafting, "pertain" has drifted toward informal connective use ("matters pertaining to national security"), where it functions as little more than "relating to." Researchers working with modern administrative law or statutory materials should not assume the term carries the same operative weight it would in a nineteenth-century conveyance.
Jurisdictional variation is generally not significant for the word itself, but the consequences of what "pertains to" a given subject — especially in the context of real property — will vary considerably by state law governing appurtenances and implied easements.
Historical Dictionary Support
Black's Law Dictionary (2nd Ed.) defines "pertain" briefly: "To belong or relate to, whether by nature, appointment, or custom." The entry cross-references without elaboration, consistent with the word's role as a term of relation rather than an independent legal concept. Historical legal dictionaries treat "pertain" and "appertain" as functional equivalents and offer no meaningful distinction between them. Neither term received extended treatment in the major historical dictionaries because their legal significance was understood to derive from context and surrounding instrument language rather than from the words themselves. This is a gap researchers should recognize: the operative importance of "pertain" in a specific instrument is not illuminated by dictionary definitions alone, and period treatises on conveyancing and real property are the more useful shelf sources for understanding how courts interpreted the term's reach.