The principle that, in construing written instruments, a court should adhere to the grammatical and ordinary sense of the words unless that adherence would lead to some manifest absurdity; esp., in statutory construction, the principle that if a statute’s literal meaning would lead to an absurd or unjust result, or even to an inconsistency within […]
equity-of-the-statute rule. In statutory construction, the principle that a statute should be interpreted according to the legislators’ purpose and intent, even if this interpretation goes beyond the literal meaning of the text. • Under this little-used rule, for example, if a statute defines jury-tampering to include a party’s “giving a juror food or drink,” the
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golden rule. The principle that, in construing written instruments, a court should adhere to the grammatical and ordinary sense of the words unless that adherence would lead to some manifest absurdity; esp., in statutory construction, the principle that if a statute’s literal meaning would lead to an absurd or unjust result, or even to an
mischief rule. In statutory construction, the doctrine that a statute should be interpreted by first identifying the problem (or “mischief”) that the statute was designed to remedy and then adopting a construction that will suppress the problem and advance the remedy. — Also termed rule in Heydon’s Case; purpose approach. Cf. GOLDEN RULE; PLAIN-MEANING RULE;
ordinary-meaning rule. 1. The rule that when a word is not defined in a statute or other legal instrument, the court normally construes it in accordance with its ordinary or natural meaning. 2. PLAIN-MEANING RULE.
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plain-meaning rule. 1. The rule that if a writing, or a provision in a writing, appears to be unambiguous on its face, its meaning must be determined from the writing itself without resort to any extrinsic evidence. • Though often applied, this rule is often condemned as simplistic because the meaning of words varies with
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meaning. The sense of anything, but esp. of words; that which is conveyed (or intended to be conveyed) by a written or oral statement or other communicative act. • The word ordinarily includes a mistaken but reasonable understanding of a communication. Cf. AMBIGUITY. objective meaning. The meaning that would be attributed to an unambiguous document
The meaning attributed to a document (usu. by a court) by giving the words their ordinary sense, without referring to extrinsic indications of the author’s intent. — Also termed ordinary meaning. See PLAIN-MEANING RULEE. [Cases: Contracts 152. C.J.S. Contracts §§ 307, 318–322, 327, 331.]