Okuzeka
Contract & Commercial Law vocabulary · Breach & Remedies

Damages

Meaning in contract & commercial law, with examples

/ˈdæmɪdʒɪz/nounCore term

In contract & commercial law, damages means: Money that a court or tribunal orders one party to pay another as compensation for loss caused by a breach of contract or another legal wrong.

In Turkish: tazminat, maddi tazminat

How it is used

Always plural in this meaning. You claim, seek or recover damages, and a court awards them. In contract cases the usual aim is to put the injured party in the position it would have been in if the contract had been performed.

Example sentences

  1. The court awarded the buyer damages of €250,000.

  2. We will seek damages for the lost sales.

Common collocations

  • claim damages
  • award damages
  • recover damages
  • liable in damages
  • consequential damages
  • breach of contractFailure by a party to do what it promised in a contract, for example paying late, delivering faulty goods or not delivering at all.
  • liquidated damagesA fixed sum agreed in the contract that one party will pay if a specific breach occurs, most often late completion or late delivery.
  • remedyA way the law helps a party whose rights have been breached, such as damages, specific performance, an injunction or termination.
  • mitigateTo take reasonable steps to reduce the loss caused by the other party's breach, for example by quickly finding a replacement supplier.
  • liabilityLegal responsibility for something, especially the duty to pay compensation for loss or harm; in accounting, also a debt that a business owes.

This word in other fields

The same English word can have a different meaning in another field:

More terms: Breach & Remedies

Practise with graded reading

Reading at the right level is the fastest way to make new words stick. Pick free English books by level:

This page explains English vocabulary for learners. It is not legal advice.