Exploring Black’s Law Dictionary 5th Edition: A Comprehensive Guide

An Overview of Black’s Law Dictionary

According to the ABA, "Black’s Law Dictionary is the most widely cited legal publication in the world." Lawyers, judges, law professors, and students rely on the wealth of knowledge contained in "Black’s" as an authoritative source for definitively understanding legal terms and phrases.
Originally published in 1891 by Henry Campbell Black, the first edition brought legal definitions outside those offered in the statutes or cases. Each subsequent edition has expanded upon the previous version, with significant contributions to the legal field made by several legal scholars, including: Joseph R. Nolan, Jr.; James D. Hurson; Elizabeth A. Martin; and Attorney in Fact.
The 5th edition of Black’s Law Dictionary was published in 1979, with Brian A. Garner as the Editor in Chief. Upon its release, the Fifth Edition, along with the Word Finder (1983), and Black’s Law Dictionary: Abridged (1983), appeared to have put the publishers of legal dictionaries out of business. As Stephen H . Galchanski described in his review of the book, "With all the linguistic firepower encompassed by the magnum opus, you’d be hard-pressed to ever need another legal dictionary unless you had an academic or theological inclination."
A major goal of the Fifth Edition was "to increase the speed and efficiency with which practitioners can identify the substantive or procedural law they seek." Several hundred words were revised and five new words were added. Two major features contributed to the practice value of the Fifth Edition, "the Alphabetical Index" and "Word Finder," which made finding words easier than in the Fourth Edition.
"The one element of Black’s that has not changed over the years is Black’s extensive use of secondary source citations" explains Edward J. Larson, Professor of Law and Humanities at Pepperdine University. As the founders of the American Bar Association stated, "Black’s Law Dictionary is the greatest tool of the legal profession." This remains true today, and Black’s Law Dictionary 5th Edition remains the premiere legal dictionary in legal research.

The Essentials of 5th Edition

The 5th edition comes with the same attention to detail and thoroughness that users of Black’s Law Dictionary have come to expect. The definitions are clear and concise. Punctuation is being added to the definitions, making them easier to read. Entries throughout the dictionary have been rewritten and updated. The volumes of case law, statutes and legal abbreviations have been updated. Outdated terms have been removed and will not be replaced in the 6th edition.
Some features that were available in prior editions and continue to be available in the 5th edition are the inclusion of translations into French and Spanish of many of the Latin, French and Spanish terms included in the dictionary. All the definitions in the 5th edition are accurate as of December 2018, and all of the legal terms in the dictionary are followed by their approximate synonyms, enabling the user to understand the meaning of the word using familiar terms.

Key Legal Terms Explained

Through this period of expansion in the scope and authority of the common law, as well as the subsequent developments in federal and state legislative enactments, Black’s Law Dictionary, like all law dictionaries, served as a barometer of legal usage and understanding. In order to reflect its responsibility as the premier law dictionary, the Black’s staff not only worked to reflect the changes in the law, and the language the legal community used to describe those changes, but also recognized emerging new concepts as candidates for inclusions.
A few of the notable terms for which DC editors and authors are responsible are as follows:
Abuse/Neglect – The definition of these two terms was expanded to reflect the recent changes in the family-care system. In addition to child neglect and abuse, both terms include elder neglect.
Causation – The original 4th Edition definition made no reference at all to foreseeability as a limit on liability. In the 5th Edition, foreseeability was added as an important limitation on the chain of causation.
Criminal Justice – The term criminal justice is defined in its general sense as well as in its technical sense as a body of law.
Custodian – The definition was updated to reflect recent statutory use of the term to refer to a special bailment, whereby a bank or other financial institution or safe deposit company could provide safe storage of valuables.
Immateriality – A definition for this term, which had not appeared in the 4th Edition, was added specifically because the legal community had begun using the term in this way.
Mental Reservation – This term was initially defined simply as "a mental reservation (as of facts); an unexpressed mental design, belief or intention (as to do an act) than that which the speaker has expressed." This 5th Edition gives a more complete treatment of the term (as is the current trend with law dictionaries), by quoting from two famous Supreme Court cases, and the two Latin phrases that are applied where this type of colloquialism is used to defeat the performance of a legal act.

The Editing of the 5th Edition

The editorial process of every new edition of Black’s Law Dictionary has always been a rigorous one. Since 1884, the editor has been the only full-time staff member dedicated to the dictionary at its parent company, Thomson Reuters Legal. The editor conducts reference checks on each and every term added to the dictionary, but few are added these days. The editor also confirms usage quotations and researches and writes the hundreds of editorials and notes included in the dictionary. In the 5th edition, nearly a dozen editors—experts in their fields—reviewed each of the approximately 4,500 entries. In two editorial letters at the beginning of the dictionary, Robert C. Berring Jr., a preeminent law librarian who teaches at the University of California Berkeley School of Law; Richard Leiter, a University of Nebraska-Lincoln College of Law professor; and Ross Davies, a George Washington University Law School professor, shared their thoughts on that term as it appears today. Their contributions help demonstrate Black’s continuing relevance, a goal of each new edition. After an annual planning session to identify high-priority projects, management dictates the ultimate size, or "target," of the dictionary, and each staff editor is assigned a section of the dictionary and given a deadline. As the editors work on the target, they look for opportunities to reduce the number of exemplifications for individual terms, without sacrificing linguistic accuracy or fidelity to vernacular usage. Such "consolidation" helps keep page count reasonable. The staff editors are trained not to write "editorial thumbs behind the tarp," as Jack Manter of the Yale Law Journal once put it, that is, to resist the temptation to express personal opinions or propound legal doctrine. The editor-in-chief interviews to select staff editors from among law graduates with editing, writing, and research experience at law reviews, law journals, and legal publishers, and each editor has a research specialty. The editor-in-chief is expected to alert the staff to questions that might arise about usage, grammar, and other editorial matters. When the manuscript is complete, the final product is subjected to two alternating quality assurance processes, the first of which involves checking each hyphenation, abbreviation, exemplification, and editorial note. Each editorial note is then subjected to a three-step verification. Ultimately, a "plausible version" (a faithful facsimile of the printed text) is generated, which is then compared to the master proof—a corrected proof of the entire text—and any differences are reconciled. Shortly after the text is released, the dictionary is proofed against the "plain paper" version for any typographical errors. After that, it is typeset, and the dictionary is created by interspersing trademark, copyright, and citation notices throughout the text. The dictionary is then indexed, and a final spellcheck is run to pick up any typos arising from inadvertent keystroke errors. The finished product is printed in several sizes.

How the 5th Edition Stacks Up Against Subsequent Editions

As is the pattern for Black’s Law Dictionary, the 5th edition was followed by the 6th, which was published in 1990. Ultimately, that was followed by the later editions through the 11th edition, which was published in 2019, shortly after Bryan Garner purchased the dictionary from Thomson Reuters and assumed position as its editor-in-chief. Though the modern day system for classifying legal terms is narrower and more precise than had been used in earlier iterations of Black’s Law Dictionary, the 5th edition employed the same system that had been used in previous iterations such as Black’s 4th. For example, inheritance was listed in "Vol 3 ["T-Z"]" under "Property" with the reference "Estate." "Estate" was further defined under "Vol 2 ["K-P"]" under "Property Publick Rights." There , the 5th edition began to show the evolution of changes in legal terminology that continue into today. The 5th edition begins to illustrate that terms change, evolve, and develop with use. In its entry for "leasehold", there is a reference to J.C.L. 5:204. That citation is to Blackstone’s 1772 Commentaries – "Severable Covenants in Lease:; As opposed to the cited and truly old English law lexicon, Black’s 1st is written for the reader of the era. "Leasehold" is recognized as having developed from the older "leasehold estate." And "hold" is meant to be "to hold in possession", rather than "to hold" as a form of enjoyment.

Utilizing Black’s Law Dictionary 5th Edition to Your Advantage

The usefulness of Black’s Law Dictionary 5th Edition transcends the confines of law school or legal practice. Even for those outside the legal profession, this dictionary proves to be an indispensable resource. For paralegals, the dictionary is an invaluable tool that simplifies complex legal language and concepts. The glossary formed in the 5th edition is easier to use, allowing paralegals to quickly and accurately condense legal terminology for reports and other documentation. This dictionary is an equally essential reference for government employees, legislators, and lobbyists who require a firm understanding of legal language to draft laws, regulations, or policies related to their fields.
The 5th edition is particularly beneficial for legal educators and students. It serves as an authoritative reference for law students mastering legal terminology or preparing for exams. Educators can also utilize the entries as discussion points, illustrations, or in drafting hypothetical legal scenarios. Practitioners and educators alike appreciate the diversity of the included terms and the frequency with which it is cited by courts in rulings, directives, and opinions. Thefore, Black’s Law Dictionary 5th Edition has cemented its role as a comprehensive resource for legal professionals, academics, and legal personnel alike who utilize the law for a range of social and commercial undertakings.

How to Locate the 5th Edition

The ease of access to legal information has been dramatically increased due to the sheer volume of legal information and the number of technological mediums from which it’s accessible. However, the first stop for many in their quest to understand a legal term will often be the judicially-approved and time-tested nature of a legal dictionary. Black’s Law Dictionary is the most commonly used law dictionary in the English language, and today, there are many places from which it can be accessed. It’s important to know where to look to be fully informed as to what this source can provide. For your reference, here are some options:

• (1) In Print: Several publishers, such as Thomson Reuters and LexisNexis, provide print copies of Black’s Law Dictionary for a fee. For example , West Publishing Company (a subsidiary of Thomson Reuters) is the publisher of the physical copy of Black’s Law Dictionary 5th Edition. It is currently available through Amazon at a base price of around $210.
• (2) In Digital Form: Black’s Law Dictionary is also available online through Westlaw, an online legal research service that provides numerous cases, statutes, secondary sources, and other legal sources compiled by West Publishing. A subscription is required to access Westlaw, but several different plans are available depending on your needs.
• (3) Online: Practical Law provides free access to portions of Black’s Law Dictionary online. This is an excellent option to simply cite case law or statutes.
• (4) In Apps: A variety of apps are now available for both iOS and Android platforms. A subscription is nevertheless required to access all content.