term

1. Originally, any of four periods of the year during which judicial business had to be transacted. For this purpose terms were abolished by the Judicature Acts 1873-75, and the legal year is now divided into *sittings and *vacations. In the *Inns of Court the year is still divided into terms that have the same names as the court sittings but are shorter. A student keeps term as part of the qualification for call to the Bar by dining in his Inn on a specified number of occasions during the term.
2. Any provision forming part of a contract. A term may be either a *condition or a warranty, depending on its importance, and either an *express term or an *implied term, depending on its form.
3. The duration of a leasehold interest in land. See *term of years.