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Glite Dictionary
cy pres

cy pres

9.9
A rule letting a court give money to a similar charity when the original wish cannot be followed
  • noun
  • /siː ˈprɛs/
  • Jargon
translation icon : cy pres
  • Using the cy pres principle, the court directed the funds to another charitable purpose that aligned with the donor's intent.

Examples

  • The judge decided to apply the cy pres doctrine to ensure that the donor's wishes were still honored.

  • OBF was able to increase the 2011 grant award total by 10% through a generous cy pres award, and a total of $600,197 in grants and scholarships was awarded in 2011.

    Blog text (3)

  • When the original plan for the fund became unfeasible, they turned to the cy pres doctrine to find a suitable alternative.

Synonyms

cy pres doctrine
vscy pres
  • Jargon
9.9

A legal rule that lets courts change gifts so they follow the giver's wishes when the original plan is impossible

is the shorter common name used in practice
rule of cy pres
vscy pres
  • Formal
9.9

A court changes a gift meant for a charity so the giver's main wish still happens

is a more concise label rather than a full legal phrase

Surface Forms

cy pres singular
cy preses plural

Morphology

cy + pres

This is a specialized legal borrowing (from French cy près) whose elements are not productive English words and do not transparently compose to the stated legal meaning. The doctrine’s sense — carrying out a donor’s intent as nearly as possible — is idiomatic and technical, so a B1 learner who ‘knows’ the constituent strings would not be able to infer the legal meaning.

Etymology

Cy pres may come from old French words cy and pres that meant 'as close as possible'. Imagine a judge who cannot follow exactly what a donor wanted, so they choose a very similar charity — that's why cy pres means changing a gift to match the donor's intent as closely as possible.