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contract law

contract law

3 4.1
Law that deals with agreements and the duties people or businesses have to each other
  • noun
  • /ˈkɒntrækt lɔː/
  • Specialized
translation icon : derecho contractual
  • Understanding contract law is essential for anyone entering into a legally binding agreement.
  • standards of contract law
  • traditional contract law
  • important implications for contract law

Area contract law is by and large state law.

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Examples

  • If a promise is not commodified, then this is a strong reason against its enforceability in contract law.

    Academic text (2018)
  • That's just basic contract law.

  • What does he know about contract law?

  • This is a contract law case.

  • This man knows contract law.

  • It's a contract law case.

  • Contract law in business and commercial life.

  • He clearly has no idea about real law, about contract law.

  • He knows contract law better than anybody.

  • Of course, these features of contract law are peculiar to (most) common law jurisdictions.

    Academic text (2018)

Surface Forms

contract law singular
contract laws plural

Morphology

contract + law

The meaning is directly and transparently derived from combining 'contract' (a written agreement) with 'law' (the legal field): it denotes the branch of law concerning contracts and their rights/obligations. This is a regular noun–noun composition with clear equivalents in many languages, so a B1 learner who knows both constituents will readily infer the meaning.

Etymology

Contract law comes from contract, a written promise or 'agreement' between people, and law, the 'rules' that tell people what they must do. So, contract law is the part of the rules that explains what each side must do in a deal and what happens if someone breaks the promise.