jurisprudence

Intermediatezipf 3.14

Pronunciation

/ˌdʒʊərɪsˈpruːdəns/(joor-is-PROO-duns)

Part of speech

nounlaw

Chinese

法理学；法学

Definition

The theory and philosophy of law; the study of legal principles and reasoning; also used to refer to a body of court decisions that form precedent.

Word family

  • jurisprudential/ˌdʒʊərɪsprʊˈdɛnʃəl/(adj)法理学的

Collocations

  • legal jurisprudence
  • constitutional jurisprudence
  • body of jurisprudence
  • medical jurisprudence
  • comparative jurisprudence

Examples

  1. 1.The Supreme Court's jurisprudence on free speech has evolved significantly, from protecting only political speech to covering commercial and artistic expression. (body of legal reasoning)
  2. 2.Islamic jurisprudence (fiqh) derives legal rulings from the Quran, Hadith, scholarly consensus, and analogical reasoning. (system of legal theory)

Synonyms

  • legal theory (the philosophical study of law)
  • legal philosophy (broader discipline)

Etymology

from Latin "jurisprudentia" — "juris" (of law) + "prudentia" (knowledge, wisdom) — wisdom about the law