ut res magis valeat quam pereat
ut res magis valeat quam pereat ([schwa]t rays [or reez or rez] may-jis vay-lee-at kwam peer-ee-at). [Latin “to give effect to the matter rather than having it fail”] A maxim of construction applied when alternative readings are possible, one of which (usu. the broader reading) would achieve the manifest purpose of the document and one of which (usu. the narrower reading) would reduce it to futility or absurdity, whereby the interpreter chooses the one that gives effect to the document’s purpose.
