This document discusses the etymology and meaning of jurisprudence. Jurisprudence is derived from the Latin words "juris" meaning law and "prudentia" meaning knowledge or philosophy. It literally means the knowledge or philosophy of law. The counterpart terms in French and German also translate to "the philosophy of law". Historically, jurisprudence has been used to refer to knowledge of just and unjust principles, knowledge of Roman law, collections of principles in certain legal fields, the body of law of a country, and collections of court decisions. Currently in legal education, jurisprudence refers to scientific or analytical knowledge about law in the abstract sense of first principles.

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2014
Jurisprudence – Handout 1.1: Etymology of Jurisprudence
Asmatullah Kakar
Jurisprudence
Lecture # 02, Weak # 01
HANDOUT 1.1
ETYMOLOGY OF JURISPRUDENCE
By: Asmatullah Kakar
READING LIST FOR LECTURES 1 TO 6 (UNIT # 01):
MAHAJAN, V.D, JURISPRUDENCE AND LEGAL THEORY, 5TH
ED., 1987, EASTERN
BOOK COMPANY, REPRINTED 2011, CHAPTER 1 (pp. 1-22)
FITZGERALD, P.J., SALMOND ON JURISPRUDENCE, 12TH
ED., 1966, SWEET &
MAXWELL LTD., REPRINTED BY NATIONAL BOOK FOUNDATION, PAKISTAN,
CHAPTER 1 (pp. 1-5)
VISHWANADHAM, LELLALA, JURISPRUDENCE IN RELATIONS WITH OTHER SOCIAL
SCIENCES, VSRD-TNTJ, VOLUME 3, (5), 2012, 197-202
TUR, R.H.S., WHAT IS JURISPRUDENCE, THE PHILOSOPHICAL QUARTERLY, VOL.
28, NO. 111, (APR., 1978), PP. 149-161
ETYMOLOGY OF JURISPRUDENCE
Literal Meaning of Jurisprudence:
Jurisprudence is derived from two Latin words: Juris means law, and Prudentia
means knowledge, study, philosophy, science or art. Hence, literally it means
knowledge, study, philosophy, science or art of law.
Counterpart Terminologies:
The counterpart terminology of jurisprudence in France is la philosophie du droit
which means ‘the philosophy of rights, i.e. of law’.

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Jurisprudence – Handout 1.1: Etymology of Jurisprudence
Asmatullah Kakar
Its counterpart terminology in German is Rechtsphilosophie, i.e. ‘the philosophy of
rights.
Usage of the Term Jurisprudence:
Jurisprudence has been used to denote different things:
In the Institutes of Justinian it was defined as the knowledge of what is just and
unjust.
In sixteenth century in Europe it was used to signify the knowledge of Roman Law
In France it has been used to for collection of the principles relating to a particular
field of law, e.g., equity jurisprudence, criminal jurisprudence etc.
It is also used to denote the whole corpus (body) of law of a particular country, e.g.
Pakistan Jurisprudence, English Jurisprudence, American Jurisprudence etc.
It has also been used express the collection of the decisions of a Courts, i.e. Case
Laws, e.g. ICC Jurisprudence, Jurisprudence of Supreme Court of Pakistan etc.
Current Meaning:
However, the term Jurisprudence with which we are concerned in LL.B., shall mean the
knowledge of law. This is scientific or analytical knowledge of the law in abstract sense
(first principles of law).