- remainder
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/ri mayn"deuhr/, n.1. something that remains or is left: the remainder of the day.2. a remaining part.3. Arith.a. the quantity that remains after subtraction.b. the portion of the dividend that is not evenly divisible by the divisor.4. Math. the difference between a function or a number and an approximation to it.5. Law. a future interest so created as to take effect at the end of another estate, as when property is conveyed to one person for life and then to another.6. remainders, Philately. the quantities of stamps on hand after they have been demonetized or otherwise voided for postal use.7. a copy of a book remaining in the publisher's stock when its sale has practically ceased, frequently sold at a reduced price.adj.8. remaining; leftover.v.t.9. to dispose of or sell as a remainder.[1350-1400; ME < AF, n. use of MF remaindre to REMAIN]Syn. 1. residuum, remnant, excess, rest, overage. 2. REMAINDER, BALANCE, RESIDUE, SURPLUS refer to a portion left over. REMAINDER is the general word (the remainder of one's life); it may refer in particular to the mathematical process of subtraction: 7 minus 5 leaves a remainder of 2. BALANCE, originally a bookkeeper's term referring to the amount of money left to one's account (a bank balance), is often used as a synonym for REMAINDER: the balance of the day.RESIDUE is used particularly to designate what remains as the result of a process; this is usually a chemical process, but the word may also refer to a legal process concerning inheritance: a residue of ash left from burning leaves. SURPLUS suggests that what remains is in excess of what was needed: a surplus of goods.
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in Anglo-American law, a future interest held by one person in the property of another, which, upon the happening of a certain event, will become his own. The holder of this interest is known in legal terms as a remainderman.The law recognizes two types of remainder interests: the vested remainder and the contingent remainder. A remainder vests if, at the time it is created, the remainderman exists and is ascertainable, and no condition need first occur to identify him. Thus, when property is given to one person for his life and, at his death, the property is to go to a living third person, that third person has a vested remainder in the property. If, however, property is given to one for his life, the property to go to his heirs at his death, the interest in the property given to his heirs is a contingent remainder, because his heirs will not definitely be known until his death.* * *
Universalium. 2010.
