French legal archaisms: ci-devant, susdit and dudit at reading speed

Edited by Chris Lee · Updated · About the library

Read ci-devant, susdit and dudit through contextual referents and modern equivalents, recognising archival register without recommending it for ordinary correspondence.

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In short

Ci-devant can mean formerly or former; susdit means aforementioned; dudit contracts de + ledit, “of the said…”. Recover the named referent from the document. These are recognition targets, not default choices for a routine email.

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Shelves, reading tables and a framed historical photograph in the United Nations Library in Geneva.
Older written registers may appear in reference collections and archival documents. Hadi · CC0 1.0 · https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/ · resized and converted to WebP

An archival extract may introduce le bâtiment du port, then refer to l’entrée dudit bâtiment. The later phrase points back to that named building. Le susdit bâtiment likewise recalls an earlier mention. Ci-devant can instead place a former status in time, so it performs a different job.

The words differ in how dated they sound. Ci-devant is strongly associated with older prose, while ledit, its contracted forms and susdit are also encountered in administrative or legal language. Their shared job here is reference, not proof that the document is old.

Marked formExampleModern reading
ci-devantLe ci-devant propriétaire demeure dans la ville.The former owner remains in town.
susditLe susdit bâtiment sera décrit en annexe.The aforementioned building will be described in the appendix.
duditL’entrée dudit bâtiment donne sur le quai.The entrance of the said building faces the quay.
de laditeLa porte de ladite salle reste fermée.The door of the previously named room remains closed.
desditsLa liste desdits objets figure au registre.The list of the said objects appears in the register.

The document still needs an antecedent

Formal appearance does not make the reference clear. If two buildings have been named, dudit bâtiment may need the surrounding paragraph to identify which one. Do not translate it as “this building” while ignoring the earlier chain. Note the full noun phrase in your reading notes before compressing it.

Recover the grammatical content

Tap one on the left, then its partner on the right.

Question 1No account needed
Which primarily marks former status?

Choose one answer.

Answer and explanation

ci-devant. In the supplied former-owner context, ci-devant is temporal.

Question 2No account needed
What must be recovered for susdit?

Choose one answer.

Answer and explanation

The earlier named referent. It points back to a prior mention.

In contemporary correspondence, a repeated precise noun often works better than an archival demonstrative. Recognition lets you read the older text accurately without adopting its entire style.

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