Glossary
Back to DeedSketchMetes and bounds glossary
The vocabulary you run into when you read a metes-and-bounds deed — defined in plain English. New to legal descriptions? Start with the guide to reading a legal description.
- Metes and bounds
- Metes and bounds is a way of describing land by tracing its perimeter as a sequence of courses — each giving a direction and a distance — that start at a fixed point and travel boundary to boundary until they return to that point. "Metes" are the measured distances; "bounds" are the boundary lines and landmarks.
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- Closure error
- Closure error is the gap between where a deed’s last call ends and the point of beginning it is supposed to return to. A description that "closes" has a gap near zero. A large gap signals a mistyped bearing or distance, a missing call, or an ambiguous description that needs a closer look.
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- Point of beginning
- The point of beginning (POB) is the fixed corner where a metes-and-bounds description starts measuring, and the point the boundary must return to in order to close. It is tied to something locatable — a survey monument, a section corner, or a stated bearing and distance from such a reference.
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- Call
- A call is one segment of a metes-and-bounds boundary. Most calls are a course — a bearing (direction) and a distance, such as "N 45°30′ E, 210.00 feet." A call can also be a curve, or a reference to a monument or an adjoining parcel. Walked in order, the calls trace the whole boundary.
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- Government lot
- A government lot is a parcel from the Public Land Survey System (PLSS) that could not be drawn as a regular 40-acre aliquot part — usually because of a lake, river, state line, or survey correction. It is identified by a lot number within a section, such as "Government Lot 3, Section 7," and its acreage varies.
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- Meander line
- A meander line is a surveyed traverse that approximately follows the bank of a lake, river, or other body of water. It is not the legal boundary. The actual boundary is the water’s edge — typically the ordinary high water mark — which can shift over time, so water-bounded parcels cannot be plotted as a fixed polygon.
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- Acreage
- Acreage is the land area enclosed by a parcel’s boundary. For a metes-and-bounds parcel it is computed from the plotted, closed shape of the calls. One acre is 43,560 square feet. A deed’s stated acreage is often approximate ("more or less"), so it can differ from the area the calls actually enclose.
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