Word.ws English Dictionary

noscitur a sociis

UK/ˌnəʊsɪtʊə ˈɑː ˌsəʊsiɪs/

More pronunciations (1)Fewer pronunciations

Latinate/nɒskiˈtuˑɹ ˌɑˑ ˌsɔkiːʔiˑs/

noscitur a sociis noun: a canon of construction under which the questionable meaning of a doubtful word can be derived from its association with other words.

Noun

noscitur a sociis

  1. A canon of construction under which the questionable meaning of a doubtful word can be derived from its association with other words.
    • Foster v Diphwys Casson (1887) 18 QBD 428, involved a statute which stated that explosives taken into a mine must be in a "case or canister". Here the defendant used a cloth bag. The courts had to consider whether a cloth bag was within the definition. Under noscitur a sociis, it was held that the...

Origin of noscitur a sociis

Latin, meaning "it is known from its associates."

Questions about noscitur a sociis

What does noscitur a sociis mean?
Noscitur a sociis means a canon of construction under which the questionable meaning of a doubtful word can be derived from its association with other words.
What part of speech is noscitur a sociis?
Noscitur a sociis is a noun.
How do you pronounce noscitur a sociis?
Noscitur a sociis is pronounced /nɒskiˈtuˑɹ ˌɑˑ ˌsɔkiːʔiˑs/ (Latinate).

Words near noscitur a sociis in the dictionary

  1. Nosals
  2. noscapine
  3. noscapines
  4. noscapinoid
  5. noscapinoids
  6. noscitur a sociis
  7. noscope
  8. noscoped
  9. noscopes
  10. noscoping
  11. nose

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: noscitur a sociis (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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