united-states us-constitution definition language
What does it mean to &quot;hold and enjoy&quot; an office?
<p>US Constitution, Article 1, Section 3, Clause 7:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>Judgment in Cases of impeachment shall not extend further than to
removal from Office, and disqualification to <strong>hold and enjoy</strong> any
Office of honor, Trust or Profit under the United States: but the
Party convicted shall nevertheless be liable and subject to
Indictment, Trial, Judgment and Punishment, according to Law.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Is this simply redundant?  Or does &quot;and enjoy&quot; actually affect the meaning?  I cannot imagine that one would still be qualified to hold the office, so long as they do not also &quot;enjoy&quot; it.</p>

<p>The Constitution was written hundreds of years ago. At the time, &quot;enjoy&quot; more widely had the meaning &quot;<em>To have the use or benefit of</em>, have for one's lot (something which affords pleasure, or is of the nature of an advantage)&quot; (emphasis added).</p>

<p>The Sixth Amendment begins:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>In all criminal prosecutions, the accused shall enjoy the right to a speedy and public trial, ...</p>
</blockquote>
<p>It does not mean that being tried for crime is fun, it means that someone may exercise this right.</p>
<p><a href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/enjoy" rel="noreferrer">Merriam-Webster</a> currently gives as sense 1 of &quot;enjoy&quot;:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>to have for one's use, benefit, or lot : experience</p>
</blockquote>
<p><a href="https://www.lexico.com/en/definition/enjoy" rel="noreferrer">Lexico</a> (Oxford) gives as sense 2:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>Possess and benefit from. ‘<em>the security forces enjoy legal immunity from prosecution</em>’</p>
</blockquote>
<p><a href="https://dictionary.cambridge.org/us/dictionary/english/enjoy" rel="noreferrer">Cambridge</a> gives as one sense</p>
<blockquote>
<p>to have the benefit of something:</p>
<ul>
<li><em>The schools here enjoy strong community support.</em></li>
<li><em>She enjoyed good health well into her 90s.</em></li>
</ul>
</blockquote>
<p>This meaning of &quot;enjoy&quot; was far more common when the constitution was written than it now is, particularly in current casual usage.</p>

<p>It is simply redundant for all practical purposes. There may have been a shade of meaning to it back in the 18th century (along the lines of &quot;hold or perform&quot; in contemporary English). But it isn't really meaningful today.</p>
<p>The word &quot;enjoy&quot; in this context certainly doesn't mean &quot;feel happy performing&quot;.</p>

<p>A good source for 18th-century definitions is an 18th-century dictionary, the standard one being that of <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Samuel_Johnson" rel="noreferrer">Samuel Johnson</a>.  The <a href="https://johnsonsdictionaryonline.com/views/search.php?term=Enjoy" rel="noreferrer">second definition of Enjoy</a>:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>to obtain possession or fruition of</p>
</blockquote>
<p>(The Oxford English Dictionary is also an excellent resource for historical definitions and, in particular, citations over the centuries, but I do not have access to it at the moment.)</p>
<p>This refers to the benefits (&quot;fruition&quot; -- related to &quot;fruit,&quot; as in &quot;fruits of labor,&quot; the benefit that results from work) that come with holding an office.  In other words, &quot;enjoy&quot; reminds the reader that disqualifying a person from holding office means that the person cannot receive an officer's salary nor exercise the power of any office nor enjoy any prestige associated with an office.</p>

<p>In context it means “exercise the powers of” not “have fun while”.  It’s not totally redundant, it might be used today to forbid someone from holding a position as “Acting Official” (whatever the Official position maybe).</p>
