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Definition of Terms Used in Code

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As used in this code, unless the context otherwise requires:
1. “Age of majority” means eighteen (18) years of age or older; except that when purchasing, consuming or possessing alcoholic beverages, wine or beer as those terms are defined in title 57, “age of majority” means twenty-one (21) years of age. This subdivision (1) shall not be construed as prohibiting any person eighteen (18) years of age or older from selling, transporting, possessing or dispensing alcoholic beverages, wine or beer in the course of employment;
2. 1. “Agriculture” means:
    1. The land, buildings and machinery used in the commercial production of farm products and nursery stock;
    2. The activity carried on in connection with the commercial production of farm products and nursery stock;
    3. Recreational and educational activities on land used for the commercial production of farm products and nursery stock; and
    4. Entertainment activities conducted in conjunction with, but secondary to, commercial production of farm products and nursery stock, when such activities occur on land used for the commercial production of farm products and nursery stock;
  2. As used in this definition of agriculture, the term “farm products” means forage and sod crops; grains and feed crops; dairy and dairy products; poultry and poultry products; livestock, including breeding and grazing; fruits; vegetables; flowers; seeds; grasses; forestry products; fish and other aquatic animals used for food; bees; equine; and all other plants and animals that produce food, feed, fiber or fur;
  3. As used in this definition of agriculture, the term “nursery stock” means all trees, shrubs, or other plants, or parts of such trees, shrubs or other plants, grown or kept for, or capable of, propagation, distribution or sale on a commercial basis;
3. “Code” includes the Tennessee Code and all amendments and revisions to the code and all additions and supplements to the code;
4. “Collector” includes any person entrusted with the collection of public revenue;
5. “Constable,” or other word used for an executive or ministerial officer, includes any person performing the duties of such officer, either generally or in special cases;
6. “Coroner,” or other word used for an executive or ministerial officer, includes any person performing the duties of such officer, either generally or in special cases;
7. “County executive” means and includes “county mayor” unless the context clearly indicates otherwise;
8. “County mayor” means and includes “county executive” unless the context clearly indicates otherwise;
9. “Executor” includes an administrator, where the subject matter applies to an administrator;
10. “Federal census,” “federal census of population,” or references to the federal decennial census, are deemed to be references to the federal decennial censuses of population as defined in § 1-3-116, and contained in the “Tables” volume of this code, Volume 13, or its replacement volume;
11. “Funeral and burial expenses” includes, but is not limited to, the cost of preparing the body for burial or other disposition, the funeral service, any funeral merchandise, flowers, honoraria, acknowledgment cards, postage, transporting the body to the place of burial or disposition, the burial space, crypt, mausoleum or other final resting place, the opening and closing thereof and any marker;
12. “Highway” includes public bridges and may be held equivalent to the words “county way,” “county road” or “state road”;
13. “Insane” includes all persons of unsound mind;
14. “Lands” includes lands, tenements and hereditaments, and all rights thereto and interests therein, equitable as well as legal;
15. “Livestock” means all equine as well as animals that are being raised primarily for use as food or fiber for human utilization or consumption including, but not limited to, cattle, sheep, swine, goats, and poultry;
16. “Minor” means any person who has not attained eighteen (18) years of age; except that where used in title 57 with respect to purchasing, consuming or possessing alcoholic beverages, wine or beer, “minor” means any person who has not attained twenty-one (21) years of age. This subdivision (16) shall not be construed as prohibiting any person eighteen (18) years of age or older from selling, transporting, possessing or dispensing alcoholic beverages, wine or beer in the course of employment;
17. “Month” means a calendar month;
18. “Oath” includes affirmation;
19. “Person” includes a corporation, firm, company or association;
20. “Personal property” includes money, goods, chattels, things in action, and evidences of debt;
21. “Personal representative,” when applied to those who represent a decedent, includes executors and administrators, unless the context implies heirs and distributees;
22. “Probate court” means the court having jurisdiction over the administration of the estates of decedents;
23. “Property” includes both personal and real property;
24. “Real estate” and “real property” include lands, tenements and hereditaments, and all rights thereto and interests therein, equitable as well as legal;
25. “Record” means information that is inscribed on a tangible medium or that is stored in an electronic or other medium and is retrievable in a perceivable form;
26. “Representative,” when applied to those who represent a decedent, includes executors and administrators, unless the context implies heirs and distributees;
27. “Road” includes public bridges and may be held equivalent to the words “county way,” “county road” or “state road”;
28. “Savings and loan association” includes a building and loan association, a federal or state savings and loan association, a federal savings bank, and any other financial institution, the accounts of which are insured by the federal savings and loan insurance corporation (FSLIC) or any successor of such corporation;
29. “Sheriff,” or other word used for an executive or ministerial officer, includes any person performing the duties of such officer, either generally or in special cases;
30. “Signature” or “signed” includes a mark, the name being written near the mark and witnessed, or any other symbol or methodology executed or adopted by a party with intention to authenticate a writing or record, regardless of being witnessed;
31. “State,” when applied to the different parts of the United States, includes the District of Columbia and the several territories of the United States;
32. “Subscription” includes a mark, the name being written near the mark and witnessed;
33. “Tennessean” denotes a permanent resident of the state, and such spelling is the recognized spelling of the word;
34. “Tennessee-based business enterprise” means a sole proprietorship, partnership, association, corporation, limited liability corporation, limited partnership or any other business entity having any:
  1. Place of business permanently located within this state;
  2. Employees permanently assigned to work stations or areas located within this state; or
  3. Tangible assets permanently located within this state;
35. “United States” includes the District of Columbia and the several territories of the United States;
36. “Writing” or “written” includes printing, typewriting, engraving, lithography, and any other mode of representing words and letters; and
37. “Year” means a calendar year, unless otherwise expressed; but “year,” in reference to any appropriation from the state treasury, means fiscal year, unless otherwise expressed or implied.
As used in this code, undefined words shall be given their natural and ordinary meaning, without forced or subtle construction that would limit or extend the meaning of the language, except when a contrary intention is clearly manifest.

Code 1858, §§ 50-52, 54-57, 59; Shan., §§ 62-64, 65-68, 70; Code 1932, §§ 14-16, 18-21, 23-25; C. Supp. 1950, § 27.2; modified; Acts 1969, ch. 76, § 1; 1972, ch. 612, § 1; 1972, ch. 740, § 2; 1979, ch. 413, § 1; T.C.A. (orig. ed.), § 1-305; Acts 1983, ch. 304, § 1; 1984, ch. 705, § 1; 1984, ch. 1006, § 1; 1985, ch. 134, § 1; 1985, ch. 140, § 2; 1990, ch. 655, § 1; 1992, ch. 951, § 1; 1997, ch. 272, § 1; 2001, ch. 215, § 1; 2003, ch. 90, § 2; 2005, ch. 19, § 1; 2011, ch. 47, § 1; 2014, ch. 568, § 1; 2014, ch. 581, § 1; 2017, ch. 302, § 1.

Compiler's Notes. The federal savings and loan insurance corporation, referred to in (28), was abolished, effective February 1, 1992. See the Historical and Statutory Notes under 12 U.S.C. § 1437.

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