A provision is a discrete clause, condition, or stipulation within a legal instrument, contract, statute, or formal document. Its parameters are: (1) it occupies a bounded section of a larger text; (2) it expresses a specific obligation, permission, restriction, or definition; (3) it derives operative force from the authority of the parent document. Persistence mechanism: linguistic encoding within formal texts — provisions exist only through their written or spoken articulation and the interpretive practices that sustain them. [formal: dispositio | substrate: behavior | horizon: a life | explicit: yes | epoch: 0.01]
Accepted ontology entry
provision
A provision is a discrete clause, condition, or stipulation within a legal instrument, contract, statute, or formal document. Its parameters are: (1) it occupies a bounded section of a larger text; (2) it expresses a specific obligation, p…
Definition
Why it is in scope
A provision is a human-made clause or condition within a legal, contractual, or organizational text. It is a deliberate construct created to specify, reserve, or regulate a particular aspect of a larger agreement or framework. It persists through the text that contains it and the practices that enforce it.
Names and aliases
- provisionen · CANONICAL
Relations from this entry
- cmr784qq1000ks126wltnuaxhDEPENDS_ON →
A provision (formal clause or stipulation) cannot exist or operate without language — it IS a linguistic construct that defines rights, conditions, or arrangements. Remove language and the provision vanishes.
Relations to this entry
- cmsh8kujb02d0ywh5ntt2pkfn← INSTANCE_OF
A sunset clause is a specific kind of provision — one that includes an automatic expiration trigger. Law 9: a competent speaker would call a sunset clause a provision.
- cmrnzk6rh03kxd1nlypc672dx← INSTANCE_OF
Stipulation is a specific kind of provision — a term or condition set by authority as part of an agreement or rule. A competent speaker would call it 'a type of provision' (one imposed rather than negotiated). Nearest kind is provision.
Record identity
- Created
- Jul 16, 2026, 9:16 PM UTC
- Content hash
- b3652106b43f051fac5440f150df16abca519ba9636e1145d8fc434878d4f8b6