An appurtenance is something subordinate to or belonging to another larger, principal entity, that is, an adjunct, satellite or accessory that generally accompanies something else.
["Appurtenance"]
Dictionary.com
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. Random House
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. Retrieved February 23, 2018. The word derives from Latin ''appertinere'', "to appertain".
Usage
In a
legal
Law is a set of rules that are created and are enforceable by social or governmental institutions to regulate behavior,Robertson, ''Crimes against humanity'', 90. with its precise definition a matter of longstanding debate. It has been vario ...
context, an appurtenance refers to a right, privilege, or improvement belonging to or that accompanies a principal property.
For example, the
Supreme Court of Minnesota
The Minnesota Supreme Court is the highest court in the U.S. state of Minnesota. The court hears cases in the Supreme Court chamber in the Minnesota State Capitol or in the nearby Minnesota Judicial Center.
History
The court was first assembl ...
has defined appurtenance as "That which belongs to something else. Something annexed to another thing more worthy." Applying this definition, an empty portion of land behind an adjoining house that is regarded as that house's back yard may be an appurtenance to the house. The idea being expressed is that the back yard "belongs" to the house, which is the more significant of the two properties.
In
Gestalt
Gestalt may refer to:
Psychology
* Gestalt psychology, a school of psychology
* Gestalt therapy, a form of psychotherapy
* Bender Visual-Motor Gestalt Test, an assessment of development disorders
* Gestalt Practice, a practice of self-exploration
...
theory, appurtenance (or "belongingness") is the relation between two things seen which exert influence on each other. For example, fields of color exert influence on each other. "A field part x is determined in its appearance by its 'appurtenance' to other field parts. The more x belongs to the field part y, the more will its ''whiteness'' be determined by the gradient xy, and the less it belongs to the part z, the less will its whiteness depend on the gradient xz."
[ Koffka (1935) p. 246 qtd in .]
In
lexicology
Lexicology is the branch of linguistics that analyzes the lexicon of a specific language. A word is the smallest meaningful unit of a language that can stand on its own, and is made up of small components called morphemes and even smaller element ...
, an appurtenance is a modifier that is appended or prepended to another word to coin a new word that expresses "belongingness". In the English language, appurtenances are most commonly found in
toponym
Toponymy, toponymics, or toponomastics is the study of '' toponyms'' (proper names of places, also known as place names and geographic names), including their origins, meanings, usage and types. Toponym is the general term for a proper name of ...
s and
demonym
A demonym (; ) or gentilic () is a word that identifies a group of people (inhabitants, residents, natives) in relation to a particular place. Demonyms are usually derived from the name of the place (hamlet, village, town, city, region, province, ...
s, for example, 'Israeli', 'Bengali' etc. have an ''-i'' suffix of appurtenance.
See also
*
Fixture (property law)
A fixture, as a legal concept, means any physical property that is permanently attached (''fixed'') to real property (usually land). Property not affixed to real property is considered ''chattel'' property. Fixtures are treated as a part of r ...
*
Tenement (law) {{Wiktionary, tenement
A tenement (from the Latin tenere ''to hold''), in law, is anything that is held, rather than owned. This usage is a holdover from feudalism, which still forms the basis of property law in many common law jurisdictions, in w ...
*
Contenement
In old English law, contenement is that which is held together with another thing; that which is connected with a tenement, or thing held, such as a certain quantity of land adjacent to a dwelling, and necessary to the reputable enjoyment of the ...
References
{{reflist
Latin legal terminology