What does To Wit mean?
What is the to wit legal meaning?
How do you use it in contracts and legal writing?
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Table of Contents
To Wit Meaning
What is the meaning of “to wit” in simple terms?
In essence, the expression “to wit” comes from the archaic verb meaning “be aware of” used back in the late 1500s.
The phrase to wit means “that is to say”, “namely” or “the following comes to mind”.
Typically, this phrase is used in speech or formal writing (legal writing).
It is less prevalent in other types of English writing.
“To wit” is now an expression that is used in formal writing.
“To wit” comes from the Old English “witan” where it was previously linked to the Germanic verb meaning “to see”.
Over time, the meaning of to wit was developed into “that is to know” or “that is to wit”.
To Wit Definition
How do you define to wit?
What is the definition of to wit?
To say “to wit” means the same thing as to say “namely”.
For example:
The winners were distinguished individuals, to wit, Mary, John and Jack
According to Merriam-Webster’s dictionary, to wit is defined as:
that is to say : NAMELY
To Wit In a Sentence
How do you use to wit in a sentence?
You can use to wit in a sentence the same way that you would use “namely” in a sentence.
For example:
There are two great reasons why we should go skydiving, to wit, it’s a thrill of a lifetime and if we don’t do it now, we’ll never do it
To Wit Synonym
What are to wit synonyms?
If you are looking for a to wit synonym, here is a list of words to select from:
- Particularly
- Especially
- Videlicet
- In other words
- To clarify
- More precisely
Use of To Wit In Legal Writing
To wit is a phrase that can be used in legal writing and contracts.
In today’s modern legal writing and contract drafting, it’s best practice to use terms and phrases that are simple to understand and plain English.
This is to avoid misunderstanding or interpretation issues in the contract.
Here are some examples of how we use the phrase to wit in contracts and legal writing:
Example 1
The company is incorporated in many states, to wit, Delaware, California and Florida
Example 2
As a result of the closing of the Transaction, all regular directors of the Company, to wit: Person A, Person B and Person C submitted their resignation on the date hereof.
Example 3
Second Amendment to the License Agreement together with that certain Amendment thereto by and between the First Party (“LICENSOR”), and the Second Party (“LICENSEE”), under the direction of Person A, to wit: LICENSE AGREEMENT relating to the technology and product identified as the Product A and hereinafter referred to as “License Agreement”.
Example 4
Company A and Company B shall, pursuant to the provisions of the Business Corporation Law of the State of Louisiana and the provisions of the Kansas General Corporation Code, be merged with and into a single corporation, to wit, Company B, which shall be the surviving corporation upon the effective date of the merger.
If you are writing a contract and you are looking to use “to wit” to say “the following”, it may be best to simply say “the following”.
If you want to enumerate a list, instead of saying “to wit”, you can say “namely”.
How To Use To Wit Correctly
Quite often, the phrase “to wit” is used in legal writing as it has a formal tone to it.
You can use to wit as an alternative for “more specifically”, “namely”, or “in other words”.
If you can substitute “to wit” in your writing with the phrase “namely” or “in other words”, it means that you’re using it correctly.
For example, “the contract is terminated, to wit, based on Section 5”.
You can rewrite this as “the contract is terminated, namely, based on Section 5”.
To Wit With Colon
In legal writing, contracts, or when we use the phrase to wit, it’s common to see a colon is used to separate the phrase from what follows.
For example:
The following amendment to the Articles of Incorporation of Company A were duly adopted by the shareholders of the corporation in the manner prescribed by the law, to Wit: the name of this corporation is INTERLINE RESOURCES CORPORATION.
What Does To Wit Mean Takeaways
So what is the legal definition of To Wit?
How do you define “to wit”?
Let’s look at a summary of our findings.
Define To Wit
Related legal terms
Fatuous meaning
Id est meaning
Man of wit meaning
Namely meaning
Scilicet meaning
To whom it may concern
To whit or to wit
To within meaning
Videlicet meaning
Wit Definition
Witty Definition
