How US Statutes Define Their Own Words (and How to Look One Up)

Short answer: a statute, meaning a law passed by a legislature, usually defines its own important words. The definitions sit in one section near the start of the chapter. The lead-in tells you how far they reach, such as "As used in this chapter". The same word can mean different things in different laws. Under one federal law, the definition of "employer" has no size test. Under another, an employer needs 15 or more employees. Under a third, 50 or more.

Written and checked on 12 October 2026. This is general information, not legal advice; check the cited statute or opinion before relying on it.

Official text, as of 12 October 2026

Citation: 29 U.S.C. § 203. ("U.S.C." is the United States Code, the set of federal laws sorted by subject.)

Text: The definitions open with "As used in this chapter". Subsection (g) reads: "'Employ' includes to suffer or permit to work."

Source: Section 203 in the 2024 edition of the Code on GovInfo, read on 12 October 2026. The 2023 edition has the same wording.

What changed in 2025 and 2026: The source line under section 203 lists its last amendment in 2018. Title VII's definitions show 1991, the FMLA's 2019, and 1 U.S.C. § 1 shows 2012. A second copy of the Code, updated through September 2026, showed the same years. We did not read 2025 and 2026 public laws one by one. The regulation quoted below, 29 CFR 541.100, changed on May 15, 2026. A technical amendment (91 FR 27833) removed the text of a vacated 2024 rule and restored the earlier text.

TL;DR

• Look for a "Definitions" section at the start of the chapter, part or subchapter where your word appears.
• Read the lead-in. "As used in this chapter" sets how far a definition reaches, and "unless the context indicates otherwise" can change it.
• Some statutes hand a word to a regulation. Then the meaning sits in the agency's rules.
• Do not carry a definition into another law. Do it only if that law says it borrows it.

Why a law defines its own words

A word like "employee" has many everyday meanings. A legislature picks the one it wants, or lists what the word "includes". Colorado's Office of Legislative Legal Services, which supports that state's lawmakers, says in an article it keeps for historical reference that a definition usually appears for one of three reasons. The word has more than one meaning, and clarity matters. Or it is a term of art, a word with a special legal meaning. Or the definition saves repeating a long phrase.

Four steps to find a definition

1. Read the section you are in

Some sections carry their own definitions. In Colorado, the drafters say, the section's heading usually includes the word "definitions".

2. Go to the start of the chapter

The Texas Legislative Council's guide to reading statutes says a definitions section "is usually found at the beginning of a chapter or subchapter." Then read the lead-in. In the federal wage law, 29 U.S.C. § 203, it is "As used in this chapter". A definition stops where the lead-in stops.

3. Check the rules for the whole code

Some codes give default meanings for every statute. For federal acts, that is Title 1 of the Code (more below). Colorado's drafters point to section 2-4-401, whose definitions "apply to every statute, unless the context otherwise requires".

4. See whether a regulation fills in the word

A regulation is a rule an agency writes under a statute. Some statutes leave a word for the agency to define. Our guide to how a regulation differs from a statute covers the split.

"Employer" in three federal laws

"We are an employer under federal law" means little until you ask which law. The FLSA definition has no headcount, though other parts of the Act decide whether it covers a business. For example, § 203(s) treats an enterprise as covered partly by its annual sales or business done, at least $500,000. Copying the 15 or the 50 from one law to another gives a wrong answer.

Borrowing is possible, but the law must say so. The FMLA states that "employ", "employee" and "State" "have the same meanings given such terms" in the FLSA's section 203. Without such a sentence, assume nothing carries over.

When the statute hands the word to a regulation: "bona fide"

"Bona fide" is Latin for "in good faith". In law, its meaning depends on the sentence. Title VII uses it for a "bona fide private membership club". The FLSA uses it in an overtime exemption, 29 U.S.C. § 213(a)(1), for "any employee employed in a bona fide executive, administrative, or professional capacity". The statute adds that these terms are "defined and delimited from time to time by regulations of the Secretary", the Secretary of Labor.

So the answer is in the regulation. 29 CFR 541.100 ("CFR" is the Code of Federal Regulations) says an "employee employed in a bona fide executive capacity" is an employee who:

• is paid on a salary basis at no less than a stated weekly rate;
• has a primary duty of managing the business or a department of it;
• customarily and regularly directs the work of two or more other employees; and
• can hire or fire, or has recommendations on hiring and firing that are "given particular weight".

When we read the eCFR on 12 October 2026, the weekly rate was $684 for the 50 states, with lower figures for the territories. Treat that number with care. The history lists amendments in 2016, 2019, 2024 and 2026. The 2026 entry is the May 15 technical amendment. It carried out court judgments that vacated the Department of Labor's 2024 rule. A source written before then may show higher figures. It also points to other sections for "salary basis", "primary duty" and "customarily and regularly".

The federal default rules in Title 1

If an Act of Congress is silent, 1 U.S.C. § 1 supplies meanings. Its first words are "In determining the meaning of any Act of Congress, unless the context indicates otherwise". Then it says that "person" and "whoever" "include corporations, companies, associations, firms, partnerships, societies, and joint stock companies, as well as individuals". Section 2 adds that "county" "includes a parish". The section dates to 1947. A 1948 act broadened the "person" clause. The last change, in 2012, struck the word "lunatic" from the clause on "insane" persons.

What if there is no definition?

Then ordinary meaning usually applies. The Colorado drafters say words "must be construed according to their commonly accepted meaning" and that a court will "open the dictionary". That is a staff article about Colorado, not a court ruling. The Texas guide warns readers not to rely only on common understanding of a word they are unsure about. Also check cross-references. The definition may sit in a section the text points to. To cite what you find, see how to cite a statute or regulation.

For builders: pulling the defined terms by software

A compliance or contract tool often needs a section and its defined terms together. Vaquill AI's US statute data has a lookup that takes a section and returns the terms from its chapter's definitions section, plus the name of that section. On 12 October 2026 we ran it on the FLSA overtime section, 29 U.S.C. § 207. It named § 203 as the source. It returned 23 entries, such as "Person", "Commerce", "State", "Employer" and "Employ", most with their subsection letters. The parse was imperfect. The "employee" entry stopped partway through a list and ran on into stray text. Some entries had no letter or the wrong one. One entry, "school is operated", was a scrap of an editorial note, not a defined term. Terms such as "Wage" and "Hours Worked" were missing. It works best on the US Code. For regulations and state codes it is best-effort. It returns an empty list with a note when it cannot parse a chapter. It points you to the section and is not the official text, so check every definition against the section. For more, see pulling US Code sections programmatically.

What goes wrong

• Importing a definition. "Employer" under the FLSA is not "employer" under Title VII or the FMLA.
• Ignoring the lead-in. A definition that opens "As used in this part" does not cover another part.
• Stopping at the statute. The word may be handed to a regulation, as "bona fide executive" is.
• Trusting a pop-up. Some law sites show definitions in pop-ups. Open the source section and check which chapter's definition you are seeing.
• Using a stale number. A salary figure in a regulation can change. Re-read it on the day you need it.

For the wider map of laws, see the types of primary law.

This guide is part of US Law Data: The Complete Guide, a map of where US law comes from and how to use it.

FAQ

How do I find the definition of a word in a statute?

Check the section you are reading. Then check the start of its chapter, part or subchapter, then any code-wide rules such as 1 U.S.C. § 1. Last, see whether a regulation defines the word. Read the lead-in each time.

Where is the definitions section in a statute?

Usually at the beginning of a chapter or subchapter, titled "Definitions". In the federal wage law it is 29 U.S.C. § 203. Some codes also have a code-wide section, such as Colorado's 2-4-401.

What does "as used in this chapter" mean?

It sets the reach of the definitions that follow. They apply to that chapter and not to others. "As used in this part" narrows the reach further.

Why does the same word mean different things in different laws?

Each law serves its own purpose. "Employer" has a 15-employee test in Title VII and a 50-employee test in the FMLA. The FLSA definition has no headcount. Laws can borrow from each other, but only in words, as the FMLA does with the FLSA.

What if a word is not defined?

Ordinary meaning usually applies. Colorado's drafters say a court will turn to a dictionary. Check for cross-references and for a regulation first, since an agency may have defined the word.

Do regulations have their own definitions?

Yes. Some regulations define a word the statute left open, as 29 CFR 541.100 does for "bona fide executive". That section points to other sections of its part for words like "primary duty". Check the current text.

Can software pull the defined terms for a section?

Yes. The lookup described above returns a section's defined terms and the section they come from. Quote and cite the section itself, not the software's output.

For the US statutes, regulations and court rules these laws sit in, see the US primary law API.

Priyansh Khodiyar

Co-Founder & CTO

Priyansh leads engineering and AI at Vaquill AI: the pipelines that pull statutes, regulations and court rules from every US jurisdiction's official publisher, and the REST API, MCP server and open dataset that serve them.