Also known as: towit · namely · that is to say · viz.
Written by attorneys · grounded in primary & secondary sources — see below
A phrase used to introduce a more particular specification or explanation of a preceding general statement. It signals that what follows narrows or clarifies the matter just mentioned. The phrase appears in formal legal drafting and opinions to ensure precision when identifying items or elements.
Select any source to read its text and confirm it supports the definition.
Thomas Thompson owned land in two states and sought to determine which law governed title. The court applied the most significant relationship test, to wit, the factors in Restatement section 6 that promote harmonious multistate relations and protect justified expectations. This led the court to select the law of the state where the land was situated.
Tobias Thomas sued in federal court under diversity jurisdiction after an accident on state land. The court held that federal judges must apply state substantive law, to wit, the rule announced by the highest state court rather than any general federal common law. This prevented the creation of a separate body of federal tort rules.
Tara Tran operated a mill whose broken shaft halted production. She sued the carrier for lost profits, but the court limited damages to those reasonably foreseeable, to wit, ordinary losses that both parties would have contemplated at contracting. Extraordinary profits were therefore excluded.
Tyler Taylor sought a commission withheld by the executive branch. The court declared that it possessed authority to review the constitutionality of statutes, to wit, the power to declare acts repugnant to the Constitution void. This established the foundation for judicial supremacy over legislative enactments.
Theresa Tucker challenged a municipal zoning ordinance restricting land use. The court upheld the regulation as a valid exercise of police power, to wit, a measure substantially related to public health, safety, and welfare. The ordinance therefore survived constitutional attack.
Theo Thomas filed an antitrust complaint alleging parallel conduct by competitors. The court required factual allegations that plausibly suggest an agreement, to wit, enough to raise a reasonable expectation that discovery will reveal evidence of collusion. Conclusory assertions alone were held insufficient.
The phrase signals a precise narrowing of a general term and is conventional in formal legal instruments and opinions. It appears in lists of archaic but still recognized drafting terms alongside 'therein' and 'witnesseth'.
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It performs no independent substantive function. It simply introduces an explanatory specification already required by the governing rule or instrument.
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Direct testing is rare, but the phrase appears in older case excerpts and Restatement comments that remain fair game for reading-comprehension questions.
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…entitled. A justice of the peace in the District of Columbia is not removable at the will of the President. At the last term, viz. December term, 1801, William Marbury, Dennis Ramsay, Robert Townsend Hooe, and William Harper, by their counsel Charles Lee, late Attorney General of the United States, severally moved the…