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Merism

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366:, and is sometimes called a "habendam et tenendam" clause. The use of legal merisms seldom, if ever, adds legal effect to the documents that contain them, but it frequently increases their reading difficulty. However, the weight of tradition and the fear of a deviation from the established formula having unintended legal consequences make lawyers reluctant to revise the traditional formulae, and their clients, seeing them, at least draw the satisfaction of knowing that their documents appear to be written by a lawyer. 191: 257: 369:
In some cases, the doubling (or even tripling) of constituent parts in the meristic constructions arose as a result of the transition of legal discourse from Latin to French and then from French to English. During such periods, key terms were paired with synonyms from multiple languages in an attempt
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Traditionally, a gift of real property was called a "devise", and a gift of other property was a "bequest". Nowadays, the words "bequeath" and "devise" are synonymous in most jurisdictions and so "I bequeath the rest of my property to..." is enough in both law and logic to achieve the same result.
107:. Other famous examples of Biblical merisms are Genesis 1:5 in which "evening" and "morning" refer to "one day" (including noon, afternoon etc.) and Psalm 139 in which the psalmist declares that God knows "my downsitting and my uprising": God knows all of the psalmist's actions. 348:
A lawyer who writes a will typically includes a residuary clause that disposes of any property not covered by a prior section. The weight of tradition is such that the lawyer writing such a document will often phrase it something like this:
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frequently contain a traditional clause that says that the grantee is "to have and to hold" the property conveyed. That usage goes back to the days in which the instruments were drawn up in
341:. It became customary to combine the instruments in a single dispositive document, and the name has continued long after the doctrines that had required its use became obsolete in 682: 353:
I bequeath, convey, and devise the rest, residue, and remainder of my property, whether real or personal, and wheresoever it may be situated, to...
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For example, in order to say that someone "searched everywhere", one could use the merism "searched high and low". Another example is the
92:), the two parts (heavens and earth) do not refer only to the heavens and the earth. Rather, they refer to the heavens, the earth 562: 115:
The term entered English in 1894 in the biological sense but had appeared earlier in rhetorical contexts in which it denoted "'
615: 538: 498: 691: 671: 475: 464: 300: 238: 155:, a merism is a repetition of similar parts in the structure of an organism (Bateson 1894). Such features are called 282: 220: 383: 267: 216: 654:
Materials For The Study Of Variation: Treated With Especial Regard To Discontinuity In The Origin Of Species
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Revivalistics: From the Genesis of Israeli to Language Reclamation in Australia and Beyond
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Adele Berlin; Marc Zvi Brettler; Michael A. Fishbane; Jewish Publication Society (2004).
70: 709: 687: 667: 611: 534: 494: 471: 460: 338: 62: 677: 659: 649: 523: 409: 81: 274: 31: 23: 703: 401: 330: 321:" at one time referred to two documents, which were enforced in two separate 180: 77: 54:) is a rhetorical device (or figure of speech) in which a combination of two 583: 371: 607:
Floral Diagrams: An Aid to Understanding Flower Morphology and Evolution
393:, referring to a whole by the name of one of its parts (or vice versa): 390: 342: 318: 116: 317:
and are a hallmark of legal style. The two parts of the legal merism "
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movie genre, a loose term for a genre of movies made principally in
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1:1, when God creates את השמים ואת הארץ (Modern pronunciation:
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in which totality is expressed by contrasting parts' (such as
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Contract Drafting: Powerful Prose in Transactional Practice
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characters, and the study of such characters is called
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How to Kill a Dragon: Aspects of Indo-European Poetics
522: 514: 701: 624: 445: 443: 441: 405:, where the part is used to refer to the whole. 554: 486: 135:'a dividing or partitioning', ultimately from 493:. Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing. pp. 456–. 413:, where the whole is used to refer to a part. 604:Louis P. Ronse De Craene (4 February 2010). 438: 313:Merisms frequently figure in the writing of 584:"Online Dictionary of Language Terminology" 560: 219:. Unsourced material may be challenged and 171:of organs from which they are constructed. 167:in considering the number of parts in each 610:. Cambridge University Press. p. 23. 597: 480: 301:Learn how and when to remove this message 239:Learn how and when to remove this message 702: 459:. New York: Oxford University Press. 250: 217:adding citations to reliable sources 184: 576: 529:. Oxford University Press. p.  384:Wiktionary:Category:English merisms 146: 13: 643: 631:Espenschied, Lenné Eidson (2010). 58:of the whole refer to the whole. 14: 736: 382:For list of English merisms, see 127:)". It derives from Modern Latin 370:to prevent ambiguity and ensure 255: 189: 88:) "the heavens and the earth" ( 174: 69:in the 1950s and 1960s set in 1: 563:"Online Etymology Dictionary" 431: 110: 90:New Revised Standard Version 48: 16:Synecdochic figure of speech 7: 664:The Elements of Legal Style 635:. American Bar Association. 377: 281:the claims made and adding 94:and everything between them 10: 741: 381: 178: 86:et hashamaim ve-et haarets 76:Merisms are common in the 36: 656:(Macmillan and Co., 1894) 329:disposed of a decedent's 487:Bruce K Waltke (2007). 421:Lock, stock, and barrel 319:Last Will and Testament 525:The Jewish Study Bible 355: 131:, from Greek μερισμός 27: 490:A commentary on Micah 351: 213:improve this section 666:. (Oxford, 2001. 451:Zuckermann, Ghil'ad 163:. An example is in 71:classical antiquity 266:possibly contains 139:'to divide', from 96:: God created the 80:. For example, in 720:Legal terminology 715:Figures of speech 617:978-1-139-48455-8 561:Harper, Douglas. 540:978-0-19-529751-5 500:978-0-8028-4933-5 311: 310: 303: 268:original research 249: 248: 241: 56:contrasting parts 45: 732: 686:(Oxford, 2001. 637: 636: 628: 622: 621: 601: 595: 594: 592: 590: 580: 574: 573: 571: 569: 558: 552: 551: 549: 547: 528: 518: 512: 511: 509: 507: 484: 478: 470: 447: 306: 299: 295: 292: 286: 283:inline citations 259: 258: 251: 244: 237: 233: 230: 224: 193: 185: 147:Biological usage 63:sword-and-sandal 53: 41: 39: 38: 740: 739: 735: 734: 733: 731: 730: 729: 700: 699: 678:Calvert Watkins 660:Bryan A. Garner 650:William Bateson 646: 644:Further reading 641: 640: 629: 625: 618: 602: 598: 588: 586: 582: 581: 577: 567: 565: 559: 555: 545: 543: 541: 519: 515: 505: 503: 501: 485: 481: 467: 448: 439: 434: 410:Totum pro parte 387: 380: 307: 296: 290: 287: 272: 260: 256: 245: 234: 228: 225: 210: 194: 183: 177: 149: 143:'part, share'. 113: 17: 12: 11: 5: 738: 728: 727: 722: 717: 712: 696: 695: 675: 657: 645: 642: 639: 638: 623: 616: 596: 575: 553: 539: 513: 499: 479: 465: 436: 435: 433: 430: 429: 428: 423: 417: 416: 415: 414: 406: 395: 394: 379: 376: 309: 308: 263: 261: 254: 247: 246: 197: 195: 188: 176: 173: 148: 145: 112: 109: 15: 9: 6: 4: 3: 2: 737: 726: 725:Legal history 723: 721: 718: 716: 713: 711: 708: 707: 705: 698: 693: 692:0-19-514413-9 689: 685: 684: 679: 676: 673: 672:0-19-514162-8 669: 665: 661: 658: 655: 651: 648: 647: 634: 627: 619: 613: 609: 608: 600: 585: 579: 564: 557: 542: 536: 532: 527: 526: 517: 502: 496: 492: 491: 483: 477: 476:9780199812776 473: 468: 466:9780199812790 462: 458: 457: 452: 446: 444: 442: 437: 427: 424: 422: 419: 418: 412: 411: 407: 404: 403: 402:Pars pro toto 399: 398: 397: 396: 392: 389: 388: 385: 375: 374:consistency. 373: 367: 365: 361: 354: 350: 346: 344: 340: 336: 332: 331:real property 328: 324: 320: 316: 305: 302: 294: 284: 280: 276: 270: 269: 264:This section 262: 253: 252: 243: 240: 232: 222: 218: 214: 208: 207: 203: 198:This section 196: 192: 187: 186: 182: 181:Legal doublet 172: 170: 166: 162: 158: 154: 144: 142: 138: 134: 130: 126: 125:young and old 122: 118: 108: 106: 105: 99: 95: 91: 87: 83: 79: 78:Old Testament 74: 72: 68: 64: 59: 57: 52: 51: 44: 33: 29: 25: 21: 697: 681: 663: 653: 632: 626: 606: 599: 589:25 September 587:. Retrieved 578: 568:25 September 566:. Retrieved 556: 546:25 September 544:. Retrieved 524: 516: 504:. Retrieved 489: 482: 454: 408: 400: 368: 356: 352: 347: 337:disposed of 334: 326: 312: 297: 288: 265: 235: 226: 211:Please help 199: 150: 140: 136: 132: 128: 124: 121:high and low 120: 114: 101: 98:entire world 97: 93: 85: 75: 60: 55: 49: 19: 18: 372:hermeneutic 175:Legal usage 704:Categories 432:References 391:Synecdoche 343:common law 333:, and the 275:improve it 179:See also: 117:synecdoche 335:testament 291:July 2020 279:verifying 229:July 2020 200:does not 161:meristics 111:Etymology 43:translit. 710:Rhetoric 453:(2020). 378:See also 339:chattels 157:meristic 137:merizein 133:merismos 129:merismus 104:universe 50:merismós 37:μερισμός 28:merismus 426:Dvandva 315:lawyers 273:Please 221:removed 206:sources 165:flowers 153:biology 82:Genesis 690:  670:  614:  537:  506:19 May 497:  474:  463:  325:. The 323:courts 102:whole 100:, the 46:  20:Merism 364:Latin 360:deeds 358:Many 169:whorl 141:meros 67:Italy 32:Greek 24:Latin 688:ISBN 668:ISBN 612:ISBN 591:2015 570:2015 548:2013 535:ISBN 531:2134 508:2013 495:ISBN 472:ISBN 461:ISBN 327:will 204:any 202:cite 277:by 215:by 151:In 706:: 680:, 662:, 652:, 533:. 440:^ 345:. 123:, 73:. 40:, 34:: 30:, 26:: 694:) 674:) 620:. 593:. 572:. 550:. 510:. 469:. 386:. 304:) 298:( 293:) 289:( 271:. 242:) 236:( 231:) 227:( 223:. 209:. 22:(

Index

Latin
Greek
translit.
sword-and-sandal
Italy
classical antiquity
Old Testament
Genesis
New Revised Standard Version
universe
synecdoche
biology
meristic
meristics
flowers
whorl
Legal doublet

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sources
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original research
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lawyers

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