Legal dictionaries provide short definitions or explanations of terms and phrases. The sources for the definitions will vary by dictionary. Legal dictionaries are great places to get an understanding of legal terminology but they are not particularly authoritative sources.
Use OneSearch to find additional legal dictionaries.
Clicking the link below will search for US legal dictionaries by subject:
Ballentine's Legal Dictionary and Thesaurus
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An integration of Ballentine's Law Dictionary-Legal Assistant Edition and Ballentine's Thesaurus for Legal Research and Writing it includes correct understanding and use of legal terms, pronunciation, synonyms, antonyms and parts of speech. Key words are presented alphabetically for easy access while "see and compare" cross references direct users to related entries.
Ballentine's Legal Dictionary/Thesaurus on Lexis
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Law students & Faculty only. Ballentine's Law Dictionary contains over 40,000 definitions of legal term "based on the actual construction of those terms by courts of last resort, with each case cited to the page on which the definition appears."
Black's Law Dictionary (in print)
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This comprehensive law dictionary contains more than 50,000 terms and includes definitions of more than 1,000 law-related abbreviations and acronyms. More than 7,500 terms new to this edition include bioweapon, gazump, hacker, mommy track, unperson and zero-tolerance law.
Black's Law Dictionary on Westlaw
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Law students, faculty & staff only. A comprehensive law dictionary contains more than 50,000 terms and includes definitions of more than 1,000 law-related abbreviations and acronyms.
Merriam-Webster's Dictionary of Law
Over 10,000 entries explain the vocabulary used in legal situations. Entries include definitions pronunciations, and frequent supplementary notes.
Words and Phrases (in print)
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A multi-volume set containing judicial and statutory definitions of words and phrases.
Words and Phrases on Westlaw
Law students and faculty only. Words and Phrases contains judicial definitions, from both state and federal courts, from both published and unpublished opinions. Definitions may pertain to statutory language, court rules, administrative regulations, or business documents, among other sources. Each definition contains a citation from the court that provided the definition. Each definition is also classified by West's attorney-editors to the West Key Number System(R), wherever possible*. New judicial constructions and interpretations of words and phrases are promptly supplied as they become available from the courts.
Rule 15.8 of The Bluebook (22nd ed. 2025) governs the citation of dictionaries. You may also find it helpful to look at B15.1.
The citation should include the following:
Rule 15.9 of The Bluebook (22nd ed. 2025) covers databases and online secondary sources. It also refers to R. 18.2. Follow the elements above plus add a citation to the database or source.
Replevin, Black's Law Dictionary (10th ed. 2014).
Replevin, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/replevin [https://perma.cc/ZK5T-FHZA] (last visited June 18, 2025).
Note that the underscore in the above examples does not indicate a link but is an example of Bluebook form.
Use Id. or Supra. -- See R. 15.10 and R. 4
Rule 22.1 of The ALWD Citation Manual (7th ed.) covers the citation of Dictionaries.
Example:
Replevin, Black's Law Dictionary (10th ed. 2014).
