But perhaps the greatest legacy bequeathed by the French language is the wealth of French legal terminology that became conveniently borrowable after the Conquest and was adopted into English. Moreover, many of them have passed into general use. Most of the words that are basic to law English law vocabulary stem from French sources. They include:

So large is the French element in legal vocabulary, that it appears to cover almost every aspect of the law as well as its most fundamental concepts. A small but illuminating representative selection of French loan-words, made by J. A. Sheard, deals with some of these aspects. Thus among names of crimes we find adultery, arson, assault, battery, burglary, felony, fraud, larceny, libel, perjury, slander, and trespass. The names of people connected with the court (itself a French word) are usually French, such as advocate, attorney, bailiff, coroner, defendant, judge, jury, and plaintiff. Among the various processes of court we find bail, bill, decree, evidence, fine, forfeit, gaol (jail), inquest, petition, plea, prison, proof, punishment, ransom, sentence, suit, summons, and verdict. Actions involving succession or possession of property introduced assets, chattels, dowry, entail, estate, executor, heir, heritage, lease, legacy, patrimony, property, and tenure. Verbs were adopted to deal with actions taking place at law, such as accuse, acquit, arraign, arrest, banish, blame, condemn, convict, embezzle, indict, pardon, plead, pledge, seize, sue, and warrant. There are also adjectives such as culpable, innocent, and just.