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The FindLaw Legal Dictionary -- free access to over 8260 definitions of legal terms. Search for a definition or browse our legal glossaries.

term:

Penumbra

penumbra n

pl: -bras
1 : an area within which distinction or resolution is difficult or uncertain [the public-private ]
2 : an extension of protection, reach, application, or consideration
;esp
: a body of rights held to be guaranteed by implication from other rights explicitly enumerated in the U.S. Constitution [the First Amendment has a where privacy is protected from governmental intrusion "Griswold v. Connecticut, 381 U.S. 479 (1965)"] see also Griswold v. Connecticut in the Important Cases section
pe·num·bral [-brəl]
adj



Source: Merriam-Webster's Dictionary of Law ©1996. Merriam-Webster, Incorporated. Published under license with Merriam-Webster, Incorporated.

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