why do we use Greek and Latin word or phrase in common English especially in legal term?

Answer 1

The Roman had the first ever written law system in the west of the Old World ;so many of the terms used in Court are Latin for instance: legal, advocate, summons, subpoena, indecent exposure, violation, crime, false imprisonment, appeal,homicide, sexual harassment, perjury, fellatio, incest, etc..Greek is more used in Sciences as some people have given you samples, as a matter of fact the Roman empire was based upon the Greek Culture even in politics the Greeks were learning how to create a perfect government called Utopia.

Answer 2

Sorry to disagree with so many previous answers, but Greek and Latin are NOT the "basis for English." English is a Germanic language.
That said, Greek was the "original" language of Western civilization and Latin spread widely across Europe during the Roman Empire. During the Middle Ages most European scholars from different countries (who thus spoke different languages) communicated in Latin and most also knew how to read and write Greek, especially those who were trained by the (Roman Catholic) Church.
As civilization and technology advanced, new ideas, machines, and ways of doing things were constantly being developed. How could names for these new inventions be understood across different cultures? By creating names using Greek and Latin prefixes and suffixes.
Some examples might help:
1. technology comes from the Greek "techne" ("art") and "logos" ("word" or "reasoning");
2. astronomy comes from the Greek "astro" (star) and "nomos" (law);
3. submarine comes from the Latin "sub" (under) and "mare" (sea).
To learn more about etymology [the study of word origins from the Greek "etymos" (true) and "logos" (word)] go to:
http://members.tripod.com/~itsmagic/ETYMOLGY.HTML
http://eleaston.com/etymology.html
http://www.etymonline.com/
or just do a Google for etymology.
It's really fascinating! happy hunting!

Answer 3

Those words are still fighting to tell us that the Greek and Latin are the biases of English Language

Answer 4

The words which you are finding as greek & latin are words that have been popularly been used all throughout our history. These words have now become part of English Language.

Every language always gets improvised with time and new words get added.

Our legal books have been written by literary scholars.

Answer 5

We use Latin words in legal terminology because Western Law is primarily based on the ancient laws of Rome. (and to a lesser extent on English Common Law)
The basic principles of Roman Law still exist and are referred to by their Latin names.
Many medical abbrviations are Latin, also. A lot of people know wht the abbreviations mean, but do not know the Latin words.
As recently as one hundred years ago, all educated people were well-versed in Latin. It is a shame that Latin is no longer offered in schools.
As long as I am on my soap box, please allow me one little thing: The Latin expression ALTER EGO has nothing at all to do with multiple personalities, as most people believe.
An alter ego is simply a person's best friend.

Answer 6

Much of our law is based in Old English time when the Magna Carta was written. At that time the official language was Latin which is what the Catholic Church used. Additionally laws came from Roman times too when they spoke Latin as well.

Answer 7

Because if everyday people knew entirely what they'd be up to there would not be anymore 'legal' field.

First- kill all the lawyers- W. Shakespeare

What do you call a honest lawyer? Impossible(majority of politicians ARE lawyers...)

What do you call 1000 lawyers on the bottom of the ocean? A good start.

The ship sinks and the sharks eat everyone but the lawyers- why? Professional courtesy.

How do you tell the difference between a dead skunk and a dead lawyer on the side of the road? The dead shunk has skid marks in front of it!

Hope this helped...

Answer 8

Another reason that has not been mentioned is that Latin is a dead language. It is not commonly used. That my seem like a downside for the laymen, but because it has limited use, it is not subject to slang. I'm sure if you talk with your parents or grand parents about USA English in their life times, they will tell you how it has changed over the years. In law, and in science, good technical writing will not lose its comprehension over the years. Laws that can only be understood for a period of a few years would have little use to the public. However, it would be nice if it were written in layman speak also.

Answer 9

Greek and Latin are the basis of the English language. In order to sound more grand than the normal people, they use more "grand" words. (doesn't greek&latin sound grand?)

Answer 10

Because Greek and Latin are the basis of English.

That and it makes lawyers and judges sound superior and more important than us peasants.