Definition
A temporal preposition, adverb, or conjunction meaning "from a past point in time up to the present" or, in legal usage, "after." In legal instruments and statutes, "since" typically signals the entire intervening period between a named event or date and the time of the relevant act or measurement — not merely a point following the event. Where a document reads "since [date]," courts have generally construed this to encompass the whole span from that date forward, though whether the named date itself is included depends on context and applicable rules of construction. In this way, "since" functions differently from "after" (which is purely prospective) and from "subsequently" (which may refer to a specific subsequent moment rather than an ongoing period).
Common Language
Modern common usage (Wiktionary): "From a specified time in the past."
Historical common usage (Webster's 1913): "From a definite past time until now" — used as preposition, adverb, and conjunction to mark elapsed time between a past event and the present.
The gap between common and legal usage is narrow but operationally significant. In ordinary speech, "since Tuesday" simply means "starting Tuesday." In legal drafting and statutory construction, the question becomes more precise: does the period include Tuesday itself, and does it run through the present moment or only through some other specified endpoint? Courts have treated these as distinct interpretive questions, not merely common-sense ones.
Common Confusion
"Since" is frequently treated as interchangeable with "after" and "subsequently" in legal drafting, but the three terms carry distinct constructional weight. "After" marks a point of commencement without necessarily implying continuity through the present. "Subsequently" tends to anchor to a specific later moment rather than sweeping an entire intervening period. "Since" is the broadest of the three, conventionally covering the whole elapsed interval. Careless substitution in contracts, statutes, or pleadings can produce ambiguity about whether a continuing obligation, limitation period, or right is being described or merely a single post-event moment.
Why It Matters in Research
The interpretive stakes for "since" are highest in limitations periods, contract performance windows, and statutory effective-date provisions. When reading historical cases or instruments, researchers should be alert to the fact that courts in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries sometimes treated "since" and "after" as synonymous, while others drew the distinction now recognized in modern drafting guides. The Maine and New Hampshire cases cited in Bouvier reflect real judicial disagreement about whether a period "since the day named" includes or excludes the named day — a question that parallels the broader problem of computing time under legal instruments.
In the Law Mind corpus, "since" appears most frequently not as a defined term but as a word whose meaning is contested in the context of another term (e.g., a limitations period, a conditions-precedent clause, or an after-acquired property provision). Researchers encountering "since" in historical documents should resist importing modern interpretive defaults: the inclusion or exclusion of the boundary date was not uniformly settled, and jurisdiction-specific rules of temporal construction may control.
Historical Dictionary Support
Anderson and Bouvier reach the same core conclusion — "since" covers the whole period between a named event and the present — but Bouvier adds the important refinement that "since the day named" does not necessarily include that day, citing Maine and New Hampshire authority. Anderson's counterpoint distinguishes "since" from "subsequently" on the ground that "subsequently" may refer to a particular time rather than an entire span. Neither dictionary treats "since" as a term of art in the strong sense; both treat it as ordinary language carrying a specific legal construction when used in instruments. Neither source addresses the confusion with "after" directly, though Bouvier's definition of "since" as properly signifying "after" somewhat complicates the distinction — Bouvier appears to use "after" as the core meaning while acknowledging that "since" also implies span, not merely sequence.
Jurisdictional Note
Rules for computing periods "since" a named date — particularly whether the boundary date is included — vary by jurisdiction and are often governed by general statutory rules of time computation rather than the common law of construction. Researchers should consult the applicable jurisdiction's code provisions on time computation before relying on dictionary definitions alone.