(a) Words used in this code in the present tense include the future as well as the present. Words used in the masculine gender include the feminine and neuter. The singular number includes the plural and the plural number includes the singular.
§ 17.Definitions
Preliminary Provisions · Last amended 2017 · Last verified July 28, 2026
In one sentenceSection 17 sets grammatical conventions for the whole code (present tense includes future, masculine includes feminine, singular includes plural) and defines sixteen recurring terms, from “person” and “property” to “electronic signature” and “spouse.”
Full Text of § 17
(b) As used in this code, the following words have the following meanings, unless otherwise apparent from the context:
(1) “Affinity” signifies the connection existing in consequence of marriage, between each of the married persons and the blood relatives of the other when applied to the marriage relation.
(2) “County” includes “city and county.”
(3) “Electronic signature” means an electronic sound, symbol, or process attached to or logically associated with an electronic record and executed or adopted by a person with the intent to sign the electronic record.
(4) “Month” means a calendar month, unless otherwise expressed.
(5) “Oath” includes an affirmation or declaration.
(A) “Depose” includes any written statement made under oath or affirmation.
(B) “Testify” includes any mode of oral statement made under oath or affirmation.
(6) “Person” includes a corporation as well as a natural person.
(7) “Process” signifies a writ or summons issued in the course of a judicial proceeding.
(8) “Property” includes both personal and real property.
(A) “Personal property” includes money, goods, chattels, things in action, and evidences of debt.
(B) “Real property” is coextensive with lands, tenements, and hereditaments.
(9) “Section” refers to a section of this code, unless some other code or statute is expressly mentioned.
(10) “Sheriff” includes marshal.
(11) “Signature” or “subscription” includes a mark of a person’s name, if the person cannot write, with his or her name being written near it by a person who writes his or her own name as a witness. In order that a mark may be acknowledged or serve as the signature to any sworn statement, it shall be witnessed by two persons who shall subscribe their own names as witnesses thereto.
(12) “Spouse” includes “registered domestic partner,” as required by Section 297.5 of the Family Code.
(13) “State” includes the District of Columbia and the territories when applied to the different parts of the United States, and the words “United States” may include the district and territories.
(14) “Will” includes codicil.
(15) “Writ” means an order or precept in writing, issued in the name of the people, or of a court or judicial officer.
(16) “Writing” includes printing and typewriting.
Plain-English Summary
Section 17 does two jobs. Subdivision (a) sets grammatical defaults that apply throughout the code: the present tense reaches the future, the masculine gender reaches the feminine and neuter, and the singular reaches the plural (and back again). Those conventions keep the rest of the code from having to spell out every gender and number combination.
Subdivision (b) then defines sixteen terms the code uses often. Some are ordinary words given a broader legal reach — “county” includes “city and county,” “person” includes a corporation, “sheriff” includes marshal, “state” includes the District of Columbia and the territories. Others track modern practice, like “electronic signature,” and “spouse,” which the section extends to a registered domestic partner under Family Code Section 297.5. A few definitions nest further terms inside them: “oath” includes “depose” and “testify,” and “property” splits into “personal property” and “real property.”
Because Section 16 tells readers to give a defined term its Section 17 meaning wherever it appears, this section quietly shapes how dozens of other provisions in the code are read.
Official Comment
The following official comments are published by the California Law Revision Commission (and, for a few older sections, its predecessor Code Commissioners) alongside the statute itself — not commentary from this site.
2002 Law Revision Commission Comment. Section 17 is amended to reflect unification of the municipal and superior courts pursuant to Article VI, Section 5(e), of the California Constitution. See Section 38 (judicial district). Cf. Gov’t Code § (preservation of judicial districts for purpose of publication).
Frequently Asked Questions
What does “person” mean under the California Code of Civil Procedure?
Section 17(b)(6) defines “person” to include a corporation as well as a natural person.
Does “spouse” include a registered domestic partner?
Yes. Section 17(b)(12) extends “spouse” to a registered domestic partner, as required by Family Code Section 297.5.
How does the code define “electronic signature”?
Section 17(b)(3) defines it as an electronic sound, symbol, or process attached to or logically associated with an electronic record and executed or adopted with the intent to sign it.
Does “month” mean a 30-day period under the code?
No. Section 17(b)(4) defines “month” as a calendar month, unless a provision expresses it differently.
Amendment History
Enacted 1872. Amended Code Amdts 1873–74 ch 383 § 3; Stats 1903 ch 123 § 1; Stats 1933 ch 742 § 1; Stats 1951 ch 1737 § 1; Stats 1996 ch 872 § 5 (AB 3472); Stats 2002 ch 784 § 21 (SB 1316); Stats 2003 ch 62 § 21 (SB 600); Stats 2015 ch 32 § 1 (AB 432), effective January 1, 2016; Stats 2016 ch 50 § 13 (SB 1005), effective January 1, 2017.
Source & verification. Section text is reproduced verbatim from
the Deering's California Codes Annotated / vLex. Enacted by the California Legislature.
Last verified July 28, 2026.
· Official source
Also known as: CCP section 17 definitionswhat does person mean in California codeelectronic signature legal definition Californiadefinition of spouse California Code of Civil Procedure