THE VARYING MEANING AND LEGAL EFFECT OF THE WORD "VOID"

Authors

Abraham J. Levin, Member of the Detroit Bar

Abstract

To interpret properly what has been said or written necessitates our going beyond the dictionary into the sphere of action and reality. In its narrowest sense the, meaning of a word is the single effect which is given to it in the specific case. Insofar as nature repeats itself are we able to build up concepts and symbols which function in substantially the same way in different cases. But the mind must always be ready to discard an accepted definition of a word symbol for the particular legal effect which the circumstances demand. The same word or symbol with the same apparent meaning may have a different legal effect or meaning because of changed circumstances. "Human language is a living thing, and not an unyielding mummy cloth in which thoughts are enwrapped. Language changes and grows, and words shift in meaning with the changing ideas of the people out of whose expressions of their thoughts through the use of words the language is evolved."

Recommended Citation

Abraham J. Levin, THE VARYING MEANING AND LEGAL EFFECT OF THE WORD "VOID", 32 Mich. L. Rev. 1088 (1934).
Available at: https://repository.law.umich.edu/mlr/vol32/iss8/4