X.

AMBIGUITY DEFINED

Ambiguity is doubtfulness, doubleness of meaning, indistinct-

ness or uncertainty of meaning of an expression used in a written in-

strument. (Black's Law Dictionary, 4th Edition, p. 105) It has been

held, however, that ambiguity does not only arise from the meaning

of the particular words but also from the general scope and meaning

of the statute when all its provisions are examined. There is also an

ambiguity when a literal interpretation of the words would lead to

unreasonable, unjust or absurd consequences, or where a statute is

in conflict with the Constitution, or where the statute would defeat

the policy of the legislation. (Tarlac Development Corporation v. CA,

L-41012, September 30, 1976)

M. THE PRESENT STRUCTURE OF

ambiguity
Also found in: Dictionary, Thesaurus, Medical, Financial, Encyclopedia, Wikipedia.

Ambiguity
Uncertainty or doubtfulness of the meaning of language.
When language is capable of being understood in more than one way by a reasonable person,
ambiguity exists. It is not the use of peculiar words or of common words used in a peculiar sense.
Words are ambiguous when their significance is unclear to persons with competent knowledge
and skill to understand them.
There are two categories of ambiguity: latent and patent. Latent ambiguity exists when the
language used is clear and intelligible so that it suggests one meaning but some extrinsic fact or
evidence creates a need for interpretation or a choice among two or more possible meanings. In a
classic case, Raffles v. Wichelhaus, 159 Eng. Rep. 375 (Ex. 1864), a contract was made to sell
125 bales of cotton that were to arrive on a ship called Peerless that sailed from Bombay, India.
Unknown to the parties to the contract, two ships of the same name were to arrive from the same
port during different months of the same year. This extraneous fact necessitated the interpretation
of an otherwise clear and definite term of the contract. In such cases, extrinsic or Parol
Evidence may be admitted to explain what was meant or to identify the property referred to in
the writing.
A patent ambiguity is one that appears on the face of a document or writing because uncertain or
obscure language has been used.
In the law of contracts, ambiguity means more than that the language has more than one meaning
upon which reasonable persons could differ. It means that after a court has applied rules of
interpretation, such as the PLAIN MEANING, course of dealing, Course of Performance, or Trade
Usage rules to the unclear terms, the court still cannot say with certainty what meaning was
intended by the parties to the contract. When this occurs, the court will admit as evidence
extraneous proof of prior or contemporaneous agreements to determine the meaning of the
ambiguous language. Parol evidence may be used to explain the meaning of a writing as long as
its use does not vary the terms of the writing. If there is no such evidence, the court may hear
evidence of the subjective intention or understanding of the parties to clarify the ambiguity.
Sometimes, courts decide the meaning of ambiguous language on the basis of who was
responsible or at fault for the ambiguity. When only one party knew or should have known of the
ambiguity, the unsuspecting party's subjective knowledge of the meaning will control. If both
parties knew or should have known of the uncertainty, the court will look to the subjective
understanding of both. The ambiguity no longer exists if the parties agree upon its meaning. If
the parties disagree and the ambiguous provisions are material, no contract is formed because of
lack of mutual assent.
Courts frequently interpret an ambiguous contract term against the interests of the party who
prepared the contract and created the ambiguity. This is common in cases of adhesion contracts
and insurance contracts. A drafter of a document should not benefit at the expense of an innocent
party because the drafter was careless in drafting the agreement.
In Constitutional Law, statutes that contain ambiguous language are VOID FOR VAGUENESS . The
language of such laws is considered so obscure and uncertain that a reasonable person cannot
determine from a reading what the law purports to command or prohibit. This statutory
ambiguity deprives a person of the notice requirement of Due Process of Law, and, therefore,
renders the statute unconstitutional.
West's Encyclopedia of American Law, edition 2. Copyright 2008 The Gale Group, Inc. All rights reserved.

ambiguity
n. when language has more than one meaning. If the ambiguity is obvious it is called "patent,"
and if there is a hidden ambiguity it is called "latent." If there is an ambiguity, and the original
writer cannot effectively explain it, then the ambiguity will be decided in the light most favorable
to the other party.
Copyright © 1981-2005 by Gerald N. Hill and Kathleen T. Hill. All Right reserved.

ambiguity
 uncertainty in meaning. In legal documents an ambiguity maybe patent (i.e. apparent from a perusal of
the document) or latent (i.e. one that becomes apparent in the light of facts that become known from
sources outside the document). The general rule is that extrinsic evidence can be used to resolve latent
ambiguity but not patent ambiguity. Since a landmark case in the UK in 1992, an ambiguity in a statute
will allow the court to hear not only the terms of law commission reports but also of the debates in
Parliament as recorded in Hansard.
 Collins Dictionary of Law © W.J. Stewart, 2006

AMBIGUITY, contracts, construction. When au expression has been used in an instrument of

writing which may be understood in more than one sense, it is said there is an ambiguity,
     2. There are two sorts of ambiguities of words, ambiguitas latens and ambiguitas patens.
     3. The first occurs when the deed or instrument is sufficiently certain and free from
ambiguity, but the ambiguity is produced by something extrinsic, or some collateral matter out of
the instrument; for example, if a man devise property to his cousin A B, and he has two cousins
of that name, in such case parol evidence will be received to explain the ambiguity.
     4. The second or patent ambiguity occurs when a clause in a deed, will, or other instrument, is
so defectively expressed, that a court of law, which has to put a construction on the instrument, is
unable to collect the intention of the party. In such case, evidence of the declaration of the party
cannot be submitted to explain his intention, and the clause will be void for its uncertainty. In
Pennsylvania, this rule is somewhat qualified. 3 Binn. 587; 4 Binn. 482. Vide generally, Bac.
Max. Reg. 23; 1 Phu. Ev. 410 to 420; 3 Stark. Ev. 1021 ; I Com. Dig. 575; Sudg. Vend. 113. The
civil law on this subject will be found in Dig. lib. 50, t. 17, 1. 67; lib. 45, t. 1, 1. 8; and lib. 22, t.
1, 1. 4.
A Law Dictionary, Adapted to the Constitution and Laws of the United States. By John Bouvier. Published
1856.

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References in periodicals archive?

Furthermore, the relationship of task ambiguity and state procrastination might be nonlinear.

This change requires students and employees to think and act in uncertain situations, which emphasizes
the role of task ambiguity in future research.

A Cross--Lagged Panel Design on the Causal Relationship of Task Ambiguity and State Procrastination: A
Preliminary Investigation

For a given set [DELTA], the lower C, the higher the ambiguity aversion.

In what follows, we model ambiguity for both the manager and the employee as in Maccheroni,
Marinacci, and Rustichini (2006).

OPTIMAL EMPLOYEE OWNERSHIP CONTRACTS UNDER AMBIGUITY AVERSION

those grounded in the relationship between the Federal Government and the States under our
Constitution." (28) The statutory ambiguity therefore "derive [d] from the improbably broad reach of
the key statutory definition given the term--'chemical weapon'--being defined," such that the
background principles of federalism actually created ambiguity based on the "improbably broad reach"
of the statutory text.

The threshold determination of ambiguity by the Court had little to do with the text itself, and was
instead based on the perceived incompatibility between the statute's possible widespread application
and constitutional principles of federalism.

THE AMBIGUOUS AMBIGUITY INQUIRY: SEEKING TO CLARIFY JUDICIAL DETERMINATIONS OF CLARITY

VERSUS AMBIGUITY IN STATUTORY INTERPRETATION

It shows that the ambiguity fixing rate of FKP during daytime is clearly worse than nighttime, while there
is no significant difference for the VRS system (see Table 5).

Performance Analysis of Network-RTK Techniques for Drone Navigation considering Ionospheric

Conditions

Not only can the context make the meaning of an ambiguous phrase clear, we also create context when
the ambiguity is too strong, and even construct meaning out of gibberish.

AMBIGUITY

They identified knowledge ambiguity as a major obstacle to knowledge transfer and learning and to the
implementation of knowledge management systems.

Knowledge Acquisition in International Strategic Alliances: The Role of Knowledge Ambiguity

 Our article is a complement to recent work on how ambiguity, and ambiguity aversion, on the part of
would-be policyholders affects the characteristics of optimal insurance contracts (Alary, Gollier, and
Treich, 2013; Gollier, 2014).

AMBIGUITY AND INSURANCE: CAPITAL REQUIREMENTS AND PREMIUMS

The many unknowns inherent in social situations make them inherently ambiguous, and the study finds
that attitudes toward ambiguity are a predictor of one's willingness to engage in the potentially costly
social behavior.

Tolerance makes you more trusting

The ambiguity threshold has gained considerable prominence in recent years as a feature of the

interpretation of legislative texts in relation to the Constitution.

Constitutional Inconsistency in Legislation: Interpretation and the Ambiguous Role of Ambiguity

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