| 释义 |
ambiguity
n. Uncertainty in meaning. In legal documents ambiguity may be patent or latent. A patent ambiguity is obvious to anyone looking at the document; for example, when a blank space is left for a name. A latent ambiguity at first appears to be an unambiguous statement, but the ambiguity becomes apparent in the light of knowledge gained other than from the document. An example is “I give my gold watch to X”, when the testator has two gold watches. In general, extrinsic evidence can be used to clarify latent ambiguities, but not patent ambiguities. Extrinsic evidence cannot be used to give a different meaning to words capable of ordinary interpretation. |