noscitur a sociis
Meaning. A word is known by the company it keeps: its meaning is taken from the words around it.
Noscitur a sociis is a rule of interpretation under which the meaning of a doubtful word is gathered from the words associated with it. Where general words are coupled with words of narrower meaning, the general words are restricted to take colour from them.
It is wider than the ejusdem generis rule, which applies only where general words follow a list of specific words of the same class (genus). Both rules apply only where the meaning is doubtful; they cannot be used to defeat a clear legislative intention, or where the associated words have no common feature.
Example
Applying noscitur a sociis, “floor cloth” in a list of carpets and rugs was read as a textile, not as linoleum.
See also
ejusdem generis · literal rule · reddendo singula singulis
Read more in the study notes
- Secondary rules: noscitur a sociis, ejusdem generis, reddendo singula singulis, expressio unius (Interpretation of Statutes and Principles of Legislation)
- Provisos, exceptions, explanations, illustrations, saving and non-obstante clauses, schedules (Interpretation of Statutes and Principles of Legislation)
- The legislative draftsman; constitutional values, the General Clauses Act and interpretation as limits on drafting (Judicial and Legislative Process)
- Interpretation of statutes: an introduction to the rules, context and fringe meaning (Legal Methods)