Simple English definitions for legal terms
Read a random definition: Hatsell's Precedents
Choate: When something is choate, it means it is complete and perfect. It has reached its full potential. The opposite of choate is inchoate, which means something is not yet fully formed or developed.
Example: The cake was choate, perfectly baked and ready to be served.
Related word: Choateness - the state of being complete and perfect.
Definition: Choate (koh-it or -ayt) is an adjective that means complete in and of itself or having ripened or become perfected. It is the opposite of inchoate.
Examples:
The first example illustrates the definition of choate by showing that a fully grown tree is complete in and of itself. The second example shows that the musician's skills have ripened or become perfected over time. The third example demonstrates how a work of literature can start as inchoate, or incomplete, but with revisions, it can become a choate work.