term of art

noun

1. a word or phrase that has a specific or precise meaning within a given discipline or field and might have a different meaning in common usage.

   Set is a term of art used by mathematicians, and burden of proof is a term of art used by lawyers.

Example Sentences

The districts must also follow the federal Voting Rights Act and group together “communities of interest,” a wide-reaching term of art for people who share languages, cultures, backgrounds, interests, ways of life or other traits.

From Los Angeles Times

This foreign emoluments clause is one of three different constitutional provisions restricting emoluments—a term of art that encompasses any gift, benefit, or thing of value—all of which reflect the Framers’ bone-deep terror of public corruption.

From Slate

The metastatic growth of the upper-middle-class house has led to a familiar term of art: the McMansion.

From Slate

This is not a casual judgment about information, but a term of art with a specific meaning in the intelligence community.

From Los Angeles Times

But it’s hard to avoid a more fatalistic conclusion: We — and by that unacceptable term of art, I really do mean all of us — were offered a crucial opportunity, with Trump’s first election, to reckon with some very big questions about the past and the future.

From Salon