ejusdem generis

phrase

A canon of construction holding that when a general term follows a list of particular terms, the general term only applies to things similar to the particular terms.

“I would submit to the court that in order to determine the legislature's intent of the final phrase we need to apply the interpretive maxim of ejusdem generis to the sentence that contains the sequence.”

OriginLatin ejusdem →
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Meanings

phrase
  1. lawA canon of construction holding that when a general term follows a list of particular terms, the general term only applies to things similar to the particular terms.

    I would submit to the court that in order to determine the legislature's intent of the final phrase we need to apply the interpretive maxim of ejusdem generis to the sentence that contains the sequence.

    3 more examples

    Or what relation has debating \ Of church-affairs with bear-baiting? \ A just comparison still is \ Of things ejusdem generis: \ And then what genus rightly doth \ Include, and comprehend them both?

    1663, Samuel Butler, Hudibras (poem), London, →OCLC, →OL, Part 1, canto 1, lines 853–858

    Ejusdem Generis: Where general words follow specific words in a statutory enumeration, the general words are construed to embrace only objects similar in nature to those objects enumerated by the preceding specific words. Where the opposite sequence is found, i.e., specific words following general ones, the doctrine is equally applicable, and restricts application of the general term to things that are similar to those enumerated.

    1984 [1891], N. J. Singer, C. D. Sands, J. G. Sutherland, Statutes and statutory construction, 4th edition (reference; hardcover), Chicago: Callaghan, revision of Statutes and Statutory Construction by Sutherland, →OCLC, §47.17

    The wording of §1 calls for the application of the maxim ejusdem generis, the statutory canon that "[w]here general words follow specific words in a statutory enumeration, the general words are construed to embrace only objects similar in nature to those objects enumerated by the preceding specific words."

    2001 March 21, Anthony M Kennedy, Supreme Court of the United States, Circuit City Stores, Inc. v. Adams, 532 U.S. 105 (United States Reports; 532) (judicial opinion), Washington, DC: Supreme Court, →ISBN, Court's majority opinion, page 114

Origin

  1. Latinejusdem
  2. Englishejusdem generis

From Latin ejusdem generis ("of the same kind").

More words from Latin

Full word history & related roots →
Cite this entry
APA

ejusdem generis. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/ejusdem%20generis

MLA

“ejusdem generis.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/ejusdem%20generis. Accessed November 4, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “ejusdem generis,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/ejusdem%20generis.

Source: ejusdem generis on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.