22 legal glossaries

Last updated 31 July 2020

On this page you will find a list of online legal glossaries. Whether you are interested in common law, civil law or criminal law (as a translator, interpreter, linguist etc.), we are sure that you will find what you are looking for, because we have carefully selected these resources.

The Berkman Center for Internet & Society at Harvard University – Click on each word to access the explanations. This website explains not only the meanings of the words in the glossary, but also examples and links to other sources of information for those who need to research further.

Clickdoc – This very useful glossary includes legal terms (Latin and English words and expressions) used in the UK.

The Divorce Law Information Center – This resource offers a list of terms used in family law.

DivorceSource – A collection of terms related to divorce and custody.

Duhaime – A dictionary of legal terms grouped by topic (civil law, criminal law etc.), ‘painstakingly researched and written in plain language by Lloyd Duhaime’. You can also use the search function on the left hand side to look for a specific term.

European Migration Network Glossary – An Asylum and Migration Glossary from the European Comission, available online but also as .pdfs in several languages. The best thing about it? Clicking a term will reveal its translation in most EU languages.

Judicial Education Center of New Mexico – A glossary of the most commonly used legal terms by the New Mexico Judiciary.

Koziollaw – This website has put together a collection of terms related to intellectual property and commercial litigation.

Law.com – You can browse through the list of legal terms by clicking on the first letter of the word you need. They also provide two search options: by term or by definition.

The Online Legal Dictionary – This website offers definitions of the most commonly used legal, law and court terms.

Montgomery Family Law – A glossary of family law terms.

Program on Negotiation (PON) – A glossary of negotiation-related terms put together by the Harvard law school.

Project LEGAL Glossary, Syracuse University – A short glossary of legal terms simply explained for those who do not work in the field.

SA Law – A nice “jargon buster” – easy to understand and use.

SIU Law Library – This list has been prepared by Diane Murley and it contains terms related to the field of legal research.

University of Denver, Sturm College of Law – All the terms in this glossary are well explained and easy to understand.

The ‘lectric Law Library – Here you will find over a thousand definitions of terms and concepts used in the legal field.

U.S. Legal – This is more than a glossary. This wonderful website offers very comprehensive definitions of legal terms and for some of them you will find examples (news or court cases in which the respective terms may have been used).

UCLA School of Law – A collection of legislative terms that will be useful for anyone with an interest in this field. Terms

United States Courts, District of Idaho – A list of law-related terms put together by the United States Courts. Click on the first letter of the word you are looking for.

University of Hawai’i – On this page you will find terminology from the field of labour law, but also other legal terms.

State of Connecticut Workers’ Compensation Commission – This glossary contains terms related to workers’ compensation and they are grouped alphabetically.