(a) Applicability. Unless the context requires otherwise, the definitions in this section apply to the civil practice law and rules.
§ 105.Definitions.
Article 1. Short Title; Applicability and Definitions · Last amended 2022 · Last verified July 21, 2026
In one sentenceFixes the meaning of dozens of recurring CPLR terms, from action and attorney to infant and money judgment, so every other CPLR provision can use those words with one settled meaning unless the context requires otherwise.
Full Text of CPLR 105
(b) Action and special proceeding. The word “action” includes a special proceeding; the words “plaintiff” and “defendant” include the petitioner and the respondent, respectively, in a special proceeding; and the words “summons” and “complaint” include the notice of petition and the petition, respectively, in a special proceeding.
(c) Attorney. The word “attorney” includes a party prosecuting or defending an action in person.
(d) Civil judicial proceeding. A “civil judicial proceeding” is a prosecution, other than a criminal action, of an independent application to a court for relief.
(e) Clerk. The word “clerk,” as used in any provision respecting an action or any proceedings therein, means the clerk of the court in which the action is triable. In supreme and county court, the word “clerk” shall mean the clerk of the county.
(f) Consumer credit transaction. The term “consumer credit transaction” means a transaction wherein credit is extended to an individual and the money, property, or service which is the subject of the transaction is primarily for personal, family or household purposes.
(g) Court and judge. The word “court,” as used in any provision concerning a motion, order or special proceeding, includes a judge thereof authorized to act out of court with respect to such motion, order or special proceeding.
(h) Domestic and foreign corporation. A “domestic corporation” is a corporation created by or under the laws of the state, or a corporation located in the state and created by or under the laws of the United States, or a corporation created by or pursuant to the laws in force in the colony of New York before April nineteenth, seventeen hundred seventy-five. Every other corporation is a “foreign corporation.” (h-1)Finance charge. The term “finance charge” means the cost of consumer credit as a dollar amount, includes any charge payable directly or indirectly by the consumer and imposed directly or indirectly by the creditor as an incident to or a condition of the extension of credit, and does not include any charge of a type payable in a comparable cash transaction.
(i) Garnishee. A “garnishee” is a person who owes a debt to a judgment debtor, or a person other than the judgment debtor who has property in his possession or custody in which a judgment debtor has an interest.
(j) Infant, infancy. The word “infant”, as used in this chapter, means a person who has not attained the age of eighteen years. The word “infancy” means the state of being an infant.
(k) Judgment. The word “judgment” means a final or interlocutory judgment.
(l) Judgment creditor. A “judgment creditor” is a person in whose favor a money judgment is entered or a person who becomes entitled to enforce it.
(m) Judgment debtor. A “judgment debtor” is a person, other than a defendant not summoned in the action, against whom a money judgment is entered.
(n) Judicial hearing officer. A “judicial hearing officer” means a person so designated pursuant to provisions of article twenty-two of the judiciary law.
(o) Law. The word “law” means any statute or any civil practice rule.
(p) Matrimonial action. The term “matrimonial action” includes actions for a separation, for an annulment or dissolution of a marriage, for a divorce, for a declaration of the nullity of a void marriage, for a declaration of the validity or nullity of a foreign judgment of divorce and for a declaration of the validity or nullity of a marriage.
(q) Money judgment. A “money judgment” is a judgment, or any part thereof, for a sum of money or directing the payment of a sum of money.
(q-1)Original creditor. The term “original creditor” means the entity that owned a consumer credit account at the date of default giving rise to a cause of action.
(r) Place where action triable. The place where an action is “triable” means the place where the action is pending; or, if no action has been commenced, any proper place of trial or any proper place to commence the action; or, after entry of judgment, the place where the judgment was entered.
(s) Real property. “Real property” includes chattels real.
(s-1)[Repealed June 30, 2026] The sheriff. The term “the sheriff”, as used in this chapter, means the county sheriff as defined in subdivision (a) of section thirteen of article thirteen of the constitution and in counties in the city of New York, the city sheriff as defined in section fifteen hundred twenty-six of chapter fifty-eight of the New York city charter. For the purposes of article fifty-two of this chapter relating to the enforcement of money judgments and for the purposes of any provision of law which in effect applies any such provision of article fifty-two of this chapter, such term shall also mean any “city marshal” as defined in article sixteen of the New York city civil court act, except that city marshals shall have no power to levy upon or sell real property and city marshals shall have no power of arrest.
(t) Type size requirement. Whenever a requirement relating to size of type is stated in point size, the type size requirement shall be deemed met if the x-height of the type is a minimum of forty-five percent of the specified point size. Each point shall be measured as .351 millimeter. The x-height size shall be measured as it appears on the page. The x-height is the height of the lower case letters, exclusive of ascenders or descenders.
(u) Verified pleading. A “verified pleading” may be utilized as an affidavit whenever the latter is required.
Plain-English Summary
CPLR 105 works as the code's dictionary. Rather than defining each term where it first appears, the drafters gathered the definitions that recur throughout the CPLR into one section and let every later provision borrow from it, unless the surrounding context calls for something different.
Some of the definitions do real work beyond convenience. Subdivision (b) folds special proceedings into the word “action”, and petitioners and respondents into “plaintiff” and “defendant”, so the drafters didn't have to write “action or special proceeding” every time the CPLR meant to cover both. Subdivision (j) fixes “infant” at anyone under eighteen, a number the tolling rules for minors in CPLR 208 depend on directly. Subdivision (d) defines “civil judicial proceeding” as any non-criminal, independent application to a court for relief — the term CPLR 104's liberal-construction command and CPLR 101's scope provision both build on.
The list keeps growing as New York adds new consumer-protection and procedural concepts. Terms like “consumer credit transaction”, “finance charge”, and “original creditor” were added well after 1963 to support debt-collection reforms, and a “sheriff” definition added in recent years accounts for New York City's marshal system and is itself scheduled to sunset in 2026. Reading any CPLR provision that uses one of these defined terms without checking section 105 risks missing a meaning the drafters built in on purpose.
Frequently Asked Questions
What does “infant” mean under the CPLR?
CPLR 105(j) defines “infant” as anyone who hasn't turned eighteen, a definition that matters directly to the tolling rules for minors in CPLR 208.
Does “action” include a special proceeding under the CPLR?
Yes. CPLR 105(b) defines “action” to include a special proceeding, and “plaintiff”/“defendant” to include a petitioner/respondent, unless the surrounding provision's context requires otherwise.
What counts as a “civil judicial proceeding” under CPLR 105?
CPLR 105(d) defines it as any prosecution, other than a criminal action, of an independent application to a court for relief — a term used throughout the CPLR, including in CPLR 104's liberal-construction command.
Can a self-represented litigant be called an “attorney” under the CPLR?
Yes, for CPLR purposes. CPLR 105(c) defines “attorney” to include a party who prosecutes or defends their own case without a lawyer.
What is a “consumer credit transaction” under CPLR 105?
CPLR 105(f) defines it as a transaction where credit is extended to an individual for personal, family, or household purposes rather than for business use, a definition tied to later consumer-debt provisions added to the code.
Advisory Committee Notes
Subd (a) is similar to the opening paragraph of § 7 of the CPA. The phrase, “except where a contrary intent is expressly declared in the provision to be construed or plainly apparent from the context thereof” has been replaced by “unless the context requires otherwise” with no change intended. This subdivision, unlike the opening paragraph of § 7, expressly includes application to the rules.
Subd (b) is new. It supplements § 103(b) by specifically defining an action to include a special proceeding. If a provision is clearly one which concerns only actions, and not special proceedings, this subdivision would not control, since subd (a) provides that this section is not applicable if “the context requires otherwise.” This subdivision replaces many similar provisions of restricted application in the CPA. See, e.g., CPA §§ 10, 285(1)(d), 308, 634; RCP 21; cf. CPA §§ 82, 96, 1492.
“Civil judicial proceeding” is a generic term used in this state to include both civil actions and civil special proceedings. It has a somewhat broader scope than the sum of the definitions of an action and a special proceeding. See CPA §§ 4, 5; Gen Constr L §§ 11-a, 46-a. Proceedings which are not “against another party” are included. The definition is phrased from the point of view of the real object of a judicial proceeding—to obtain relief from a court—rather than from the point of view in CPA § 4 of the purpose for which such relief is sought: “for the enforcement or protection of a right, the redress or prevention of a wrong or the punishment of a public offense.” Cf. In re Judicial Inquiry, 6 AD2d 1045, 179 NYS2d 301 (2d Dep’t 1958). The word “independent” in the definition distinguishes a motion, which is an application for an order incidental to a judicial proceeding. This section incorporates the CPA § 6 and § 16-a of the Gen Constr L by expressly excluding a criminal action, which is defined by § 18-a of the Gen Constr L in the words of the exception in § 6.
Subd (m) is new. It obviates the necessity of naming all the matrimonial actions whenever they are referred to throughout the new CPLR.
Subd (o) is new. It permits use of the word “triable” in place of the elaborate language sometimes used in order to include pending actions, actions not yet commenced, and actions which have been terminated.
Amendment History
Add, L 1962, ch 308, § 1, eff Sept 1, 1963; amd, L 1962, ch 318, § 1; L 1973, ch 238, § 1, eff Sept 1, 1973; L 1974, ch 924, § 1, eff Sept 1, 1974; L 1983, ch 840, § 2, eff April 1, 1983; L 1994, ch 100, § 1, eff May 16, 1994; L 1997, ch 455, § 2, eff Aug 26, 1997; L 1998, ch 80, § 3, eff June 2, 1998, deemed eff on and after Aug 26, 1997; L 2007, ch 125, § 1, eff Jan 1, 2008; L 2021, ch 593, § 2, effective May 7, 2022.
Source & verification. Provision text, History, and Advisory
Committee Notes are reproduced verbatim from the Consolidated Laws of New York.
Last verified July 21, 2026.
· Official source
Also known as: CPLR 105 definitionswhat is an infant under New York lawCPLR definition of actionNew York civil practice defined termsCPLR consumer credit transaction definition