Legal Definition and Related Resources of Loss

The term derives its meaning from the context in which it is used. Generally, denotes any deprivation , decrease in value , depreciation , liability actually incurred, the act of losing, or the thing lost, ruin, a bad or uncollectable debt, First Fed. Sav. & Loan Ass’n of Billings v state Tax appeal Bd.. 535 P.2d 183, 167 Mont. 33; damage to property , destruction of property, O’Doar. v insurance Co. of North America, 52 Cal.Rptr. 184, 243 C.A.2d 71; an injury , something lost.

In insurance. The destruction of or damage to the insured subject by the perils insured against, according to the express provisions and construction of the contract. These accidents, or misfortunes, or per-‘ ils, as they are usually denominated, are all distinctly enumerated in the policy. And no loss, however great or unforeseen, can be a loss within the policy unless it be the direct and immediate consequence of one or more of these perils. Marsh. Ins. 1, e. 12. Loss under a life policy is simply the death of the subject by a cause the risk of which is not expressly excepted in the policy, and where the loss is not fraudulent, as where one assured, who assures the life of another for his own benefit, procures the death. Loss in insurance against fire must, under the usual form of policy, be by the partial or total destruction or damage of the thing insured by fire. In maritime insurance, in which loss by fire is one of the risks usually included, the loss insured against may be absolutely or constructively total, or a partial or general average loss, or a particular average. A partial loss is any loss or damage short of, or not amounting to, a total loss; for if it be not the latter, it must be the former. See 4 Mass. 374; 6 Mass. 102, 122, 317; 12 Mass. 170, 288; 8 Johns. (N. Y.) 237; 10 Johns. (N. Y.) 487; 5 Bin. (Pa.) 595; 2 Serg. & R. (Pa.) 558. A total loss is such destruction of, or damage to, the thing insured that it is of little or no value to the owner. Partial losses are sometimes denominated average losses, because they are often in the nature of those losses which are the subject of average contributions; and they are distinguished Into general and particular averages. See Average. Total losses, in maritime insurance, are absolutely such when the entire thing perishes or becomes of no value. Constructively, a loss may become total where the value remaining is of such a small amount that the whole may be surrendered. See Abandonment. Consult Phil. Ins.; Arnold, Ind.; Pars. Mar. Law. See Total Loss.

A feeling of emotional deprivation that is experienced at some point in time. For a birth parent the initial loss will usually be felt at or subsequent to the placement of the child. Adoptive parents who are infertile feel a loss in their inability to bear a child. An adopted child may feel a sense of loss at various points in time; the first time the child realizes he is adopted may invoke a strong sense of loss for his birth family.

Learn more with the Adoption Thesaurus

noun

• calamity
• catastrophe
• cost
• damnum
• decline
• decrement
• deprivation
• detrimentum
• disaster
• failure
• forfeit
• forfeiture
• iactura
• ill fortune
• ill luck
• misfortune
• privation
• removal
• ruin
• sacrifice
• waste Associated Concepts: actual loss
• allowable loss
• business loss
• capital loss
• cause of loss
• consequential loss
• constructive total loss
• damages
• deductible
• direct loss
• financial loss
• guaranty funds
• indemnification
• involuntary losses
• irreparable loss
• loss of bargain
• loss of earnings
• loss of life
• loss of profits
• loss of services
• loss payable clause
• loss reserves
• measure of damages
• net loss
• operating loss
• outofpocket loss
• pecuniary loss
• permanent loss
• profit and loss
• recovery of losses from bad debts
• salvage loss FOREIGN PHRASES: Nemo debet locupletari ex alterius incommodo
• No one ought to gain by another’s loss
• Fictio legis inique operatur alieni damnum vel injuriam
• Fiction of law is wrongful if it works loss or harm to anyone
• Non omne damnum inducit injuriam
• Not every loss produces an injury
• Lexcitius tolerare vultprivatum damnum quam publicum malum
• The law would rather tolerate a private loss than a public evil
• Officiumnemini debet esse damnosum
• An office ought to be injurious to no one
• Non videntur rem amittere quibuspropria non fuit
• Persons to whom a thing did not belong are not considered to have lost it

Browse or run a search for Loss in the American Encyclopedia of Law, the Asian Encyclopedia of Law, the European Encyclopedia of Law, the UK Encyclopedia of Law or the Latin American and Spanish Encyclopedia of Law.

Loss in Historical Law

You might be interested in the historical meaning of this term. Browse or search for Loss in Historical Law in the Encyclopedia of Law.

Search for legal acronyms and/or abbreviations containing Loss in the Legal Abbreviations and Acronyms Dictionary.

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This definition of Loss is based on the The Cyclopedic Law Dictionary . This entry needs to be proofread.

Vocabularies (Semantic Web Information)

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Loss Definition (in the Accounting Vocabulary)

The New York State Society of Certified Public Accountants offers the following definition of Loss in a way that is easy for anybody to understand: Excess of EXPENDITURES over REVENUE for a period or activity. Also, for tax purposes, an excess of basis over the amount realized in a transaction.

United States Tax Concept of Casualty and Theft Loss

A loss caused by a sudden, unexpected, or unusual event such as a hurricane, earthquake, fire, flood, or theft. Casualty or theft losses are deductible as an itemized deduction subject to a $100 reduction per event and to the extent your total losses during the tax year exceed 10 percent of your adjusted gross income.