Following are common terms that you might find during your genealogical research:
| Term | Description |
|---|---|
| ABSTRACT | Summary of important points of a given text, especially deeds and wills. |
| ADMINISTRATION (of estate) | The collection, management and distribution of an estate by proper legal process. |
| ADMINISTRATOR (of estate) | Person appointed to manage or divide the estate of a deceased person. |
| ADMINISTRATRIX | A female administrator. |
| AFFIDAVIT | A statement in writing, sworn to before proper authority. |
| ALIEN | Foreigner. |
| AMERICAN REVOLUTION | U.S. war for independence from Great Britain 1775-1783. |
| ANCESTOR | A person from whom you are descended; a forefather. |
| ANTE | Latin prefix meaning before, such as in ante-bellum South, "The South before the war" |
| APPRENTICE | One who is bound by indentures or by legal agreement or by any means to serve another person for a certain time, with a view of learning an art or trade. |
| APPURTENANCE | That which belongs to something else such as a building, orchard, right of way, etc. |
| ARCHIVES | Records of a government, organization, institution; the placewhere records are stored. |
| ATTEST | To affirm; to certify by signature or oath. |
| BANNS | Public announcement of intended marriage. |
| BENEFICIARY | One who receives benefit of trust or property. |
| BEQUEATH | To give personal property to a person in a will. Noun --bequest. |
| BOND | Written, signed, witnessed agreement requiring payment of a specified amount of money on or before a given date. |
| BOUNTY LAND WARRANT | A right to obtain land, specific number of acres of unallocated public land, granted for military service. |
| CENSUS | Official enumeration, listing or counting of citizens. |
| CERTIFIED COPY | A copy made and attested to by officers having charge of the original and authorized to give copies. |
| CHATTEL | Personal property which can include animate as well as inanimate properties. |
| CHRISTEN | To receive or initiate into the visible church by baptism; to name at baptism; to give a name to. |
| CIRCA | About, near, or approximate -- usually referring to a date. |
| CIVIL WAR | War between the States; war between North and South, 1861-65. |
| CODICIL | Addition to a will. |
| COLLATERAL ANCESTOR | Belong to the same ancestral stock but not in direct line of descent; opposed to lineal such as aunts, uncles & cousins. |
| COMMON ANCESTOR | Ancestor shared by any two people. |
| CONFEDERATE | Pertaining to the Southern states which seceded from the U.S. in 1860 -1861, their government and their citizens. |
| CONSANGUINITY | Blood relationship. |
| CONSORT | Usually, a wife whose husband is living |
| CONVEYANCE | See deed. |
| COUSIN | Relative descended from a common ancestor, but not a brother or sister. |
| DAUGHTER-IN-LAW | Wife of one's son. |
| DECEASED | Dead. |
| DECEDENT | A deceased person. |
| DECLARATION OF INTENTION | First paper, sworn to and filed in court, by an alien stating that he wants to become a citizen. |
| DEED | A document by which title in real property is transferred from one party to another. |
| DEPOSITION | A testifying or testimony taken down in writing under oath of affirmation in reply to interrogatories, before a competent officer to replace the oral testimony of a witness. |
| DEVISE | Gift of real property by will. |
| DEVISEE | One to whom real property (land) is given in a will. |
| DEVISOR | One who gives real property in a will. |
| DISSENTER | One who did not belong to the established church, especially the Church of England in the American colonies. |
| DISTRICT LAND OFFICE PLAT BOOK | Books or rather maps which show the location of the land patentee. |
| DISTRICT LAND OFFICE TRACT BOOK | Books which list individual entries by range and township. |
| DOUBLE DATING | A system of double dating used in England and America from 1582-1752, because it was not clear as to whether the year commenced January 1 or March 25 |
| DOWER | Legal right or share which a wife acquired by marriage in the real estate of her husband, allotted to her after his death for her lifetime. |
| EMIGRANT | One leaving a country and moving to another. |
| ENUMERATION | Listing or counting , such as a census. |
| EPITAPH | An inscription on or at a tomb or grave in memory of the one buried there. |
| ESCHEAT | The reversion of property to the state when there are no qualified heirs. |
| ESTATE | All property and debts belonging to a person. |
| ET AL | Latin for "and others". |
| ET UX | Latin for "and wife". |
| ET UXOR | And his wife. Sometimes written simply Et Ux. |
| EXECUTOR | One appointed in a will to carry out its provisions. Female =Executrix |
| FATHER-IN-LAW | Father of one's spouse. |
| FEE | An estate of inheritance in land, being either fee simple or fee tail. An estate in land held of a feudal lord on condition of the performing of certain services. |
| FEE SIMPLE | An absolute ownership without restriction. |
| FEE TAIL | An estate of inheritance limited to lineal descendant heirs of a person to whom it was granted. |
| FRATERNITY | Group of men (or women) sharing a common purpose orinterest. |
| FREE HOLD | An estate in fee simple, in fee tail, or for life. |
| FRIEND | Member of the Religious Society of Friends; a Quaker. |
| GAZETTEER | A geographical dictionary; a book giving names and descriptions of places usually in alphabetical order. |
| GENEALOGY | Study of family history and descent. |
| GENTLEMAN | A man well born. |
| GIVEN NAME | Name given to a person at birth or baptism, one's first and middle names. |
| GLEBE | Land belonging to a parish church. |
| GRANTEE | One who buys property or receives a grant. |
| GRANTOR | One who sells property or makes a grant. |
| GREAT-AUNT | Sister of one's grandparent |
| GREAT-UNCLE | Brother of one's grandparent. |
| GUARDIAN | Person appointed to care for and manage property of a minor orphan or an adult incompetent of managing his own affairs. |
| HALF BROTHER/HALF SISTER | Child by another marriage of one's mother or father; the relationship of two people who have only one parent in common. |
| HEIRS | Those entitled by law or by the terms of a will to inherit property from another. |
| HOLOGRAPHIC WILL | One written entirely in the testator's own handwriting. |
| HOMESTEAD ACT | Law passed by Congress in 1862 allowing a head of a family to obtain title to 160 acres of public land after clearing and improving it for 5 years. |
| HUGUENOT | A French Protestant in the 16th and 17th centuries. One of the reformed or calvinistic communion who were driven by the thousands into exile in England, Holland, Germany and America. |
| ILLEGITIMATE | Born to a mother who was not married to the child's father. |
| IMMIGRANT | One moving into a country from another. |
| INDENTURE | Today it means a contract in 2 or more copies. Originally made in 2 parts by cutting or tearing a single sheet across the middle in a jagged line so the two parts may later be matched. |
| INDENTURED SERVANT | One who bound himself into service of another person for a specified number of years, often in return for transportation to this country. |
| INFANT | Any person not of full age; a minor. |
| INSTANT | Of or pertaining to the current month. (Abbreviated inst.) |
| INTESTATE | One who dies without a will or dying without a will. |
| INVENTORY | An account, catalog or schedule, made by an executor or administrator of all the goods and chattels and sometimes of the real estate of a deceased person. |
| ISSUE | Offspring; children; lineal descendants of a common ancestor. |
| LATE | Recently deceased. |
| LEASE | An agreement which creates a landlord-tenant situation. |
| LEGACY | Property or money left to someone in a will |
| LEGISLATURE | Lawmaking branch of state or national government; elected group of lawmakers. |
| LIBER | book or volume |
| LIEN | A claim against property as security for payment of a debt. |
| LINEAGE | Ancestry; direct descent from a specific ancestor. |
| LINEAL | Consisting of or being in a direct line of ancestry or descendants; descended in a direct line. |
| LIS PENDENS | Pending court action; usually applies to land title claims. |
| LODGE | A chapter or meeting hall of a fraternal organization. |
| LOYALIST | Tory, an American colonist who supported the British side during the American Revolution. |
| MAIDEN NAME | A girl's last name or surname before she marries |
| MANUSCRIPT | A composition written with the hand as an ancient book or a non-printed modern book or music. |
| MARRIAGE BOND | A financial guarantee that no impediment to the marriage existed, furnished by the intended bridegroom or by his friends. |
| MATERNAL | Related through one's mother, such as a Maternal grandmother being the mother's mother. |
| MEASUREMENTS | See Land Measurements. |
| MESSUAGE | A dwelling house. |
| METES & BOUNDS | Property described by natural boundaries, such as 3 notches in a white oak tree, etc. |
| MICROFICHE | Sheet of microfilm with greatly reduced images of pages of documents. |
| MICROFILM | Reproduction of documents on film at reduced size. |
| MIGRANT | Person who moves from place to place, usually in search of work |
| MIGRATE | To move from one country or state or region to another. (Noun : migration) |
| MILITIA | Citizens of a state who are not part of the national military forces but who can be called into military service in an emergency; acitizen army, apart from the regular military forces. |
| MINOR | One who is under legal age; not yet a legal adult. |
| MISTER | In early times, a title of respect given only to those who held important civil officer or who were of gentle blood. |
| MOIETY | A half; an indefinite portion |
| MORTALITY | Death; death rate. |
| MORTALITY SCHEDULES | Enumeration of persons who died during the year prior to June 1 of 1850, 1860, 1870, and 1880 in each state of the United States, conducted by the bureau of census. |
| MORTGAGE | A conditional transfer of title to real property as security for payment of a debt. |
| MOTHER-IN-LAW | Mother of one's spouse. |
| NAMESAKE | Person named after another person. |
| NECROLOGY | Listing or record of persons who have died recently |
| NEE | Used to identify a woman's maiden name; born with the surname of. |
| NEPHEW | Son of one's brother or sister. |
| NEPOS | A grandson. |
| NIECE | Daughter of one's brother or sister. |
| NONCUPATIVE WILL | One declared or dictated by the testator, usually for persons in last sickness, sudden illness, or military. |
| ORPHAN | Child whose parents are dead; sometimes, a child who has lost one parent by death. |
| ORPHAN'S COURT | Orphans being recognized as wards of the states, provisions were made for them in special courts. |
| PASSENGER LIST | A ships list of passengers, usually referring to those ships arriving in the US or Canada, from Europe. |
| PATENT | Grant of land from a government to an individual. |
| PATERNAL | Related to one's father. Paternal grandmother is the father's mother. |
| PATRIOT | One who loves his country and supports its interests. |
| PEDIGREE | Family tree; ancestry. |
| PENSION | Money paid regularly to an individual, especially by a government as reward for military service during wartime or upon retirement from government service. |
| PENSIONER | One who receives a pension. |
| POLL | List or record of persons, especially for taxing or voting. POST - Prefix meaning after, as in post-war economy. |
| POSTERITY | Descendants; those who come after. |
| POWER OF ATTORNEY | When a person is unable to act for himself, he appoints another to act in his behalf. |
| PRE | Prefix meaning before, as in pre-war military build-up. |
| PRE-EMOTION RIGHTS | Right given by the federal government to citizens, to buy a quarter section of land or less. |
| PROBATE | Having to do with wills and the administration of estates. |
| PROGENITOR | A direct ancestor. |
| PROGENY | Descendants of a common ancestor; issue. |
| PROVED WILL | A will established as genuine by probate court. |
| PROVOST | A person appointed to superintend, or preside over something. |
| PROXIMO | In the following month, in the month after the present one. |
| PUBLIC DOMAIN | Land owned by the government. |
| QUAKER | Member of the Religious Society of Friends. |
| QUITCLAIM | A deed conveying the interest of the party at that time. |
| RECTOR | A clergyman; the ruler or governor of a country. |
| RELICT | Widow; surviving spouse when one has died, husband or wife. (relicta/relictus) |
| REPUBLIC | Government in which supreme authority lies with the people or their elected representatives. |
| REVOLUTIONARY WAR | U.S. war for independence from Great Britain 1775-1783. |
| SHAKER | Member of a religious group formed in 1747 which practiced communal living and celibacy. |
| SIBLING | Person having one or both parents in common with another; a brother or sister. |
| SIC | Latin meaning thus; copied exactly as the original reads. Often suggests a mistake or surprise in the original. |
| SON-IN-LAW | Husband of one's daughter. |
| SPINSTER | A woman still unmarried; or one who spins. |
| SPONSOR | A bondsman; surety. |
| SPOUSE | Husband or wife. |
| STATUTE | Law. |
| STEP-BROTHER / STEP-SISTER | Child of one's step-father or step-mother. |
| STEP-CHILD | Child of one's husband or wife from a previous marriage. |
| STEP-FATHER | Husband of one's mother by a later marriage. |
| STEP-MOTHER | Wife of one's father by a later marriage. |
| SURNAME | Family name or last name. |
| TERRITORY | Area of land owned by a country, not a state or province, but having its own legislature and governor. |
| TESTAMENTARY | Pertaining to a will. |
| TESTATE | A person who dies leaving a valid will. |
| TESTATOR | A person who makes a valid will before his death. |
| TITHABLE | Taxable. |
| TITHE | Formerly, money due as a tax for support of the clergy or church. |
| TORY | Loyalist; one who supported the British side in the American Revolution. |
| TOWNSHIP | A division of U.S. public land that contained 36 sections, or 36 square miles. Also a subdivision of the county in many Northeastern and Midwestern states of the U.S. |
| TRADITION | The handing down of statements, beliefs, legends, customs, genealogies, etc. from generation to generation, especially by word of mouth. |
| TRANSCRIBE | To make a copy in writing. |
| ULTIMO | In the month before this one. |
| UNION | The United States; also the North during the Civil War, the states which did not secede. |
| UX | Latin word for wife (uxor). |
| VERBATIM | Word for word; in the same words, verbally. |
| VTAL RECORDS | Records of birth, death, marriage or divorce. |
| VITAL STATISTICS | Data dealing with birth, death, marriage or divorce. |
| WAR BETWEEN THE STATES | U.S. Civil War, 1861-1865. |
| WARD | Chiefly the division of a city for election purposes. |
| WILL | Document declaring how a person wants his property divided after his death. |
| WITNESS | One who is present at a transaction, such as a sale of land or signing of a will, who can testify or affirm that it actually took place. |
| WPA HISTORICAL RECORDS SURVEY | A program undertaken by the US Government from 1935-1936, in which inventories were compiled of historical material. |
| YEOMAN | A servant, an attendant or subordinate official in a royal household |
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