The Association Game: Applying Noscitur a Sociis and Ejusdem Generis

*J.D., University of Virginia School of Law, 2025. I am ever grateful to Professor Richard Re for his patient and kind guidance. Thank you to Professor John Harrison, David Bainbridge, Christopher Baldacci, Faith Chudkowski, Connor Fitzpatrick, Jake Flansburg, Zac Hayburn, Trevor Hoogendoorn, Ann Kreuscher, Cole Williams, and Marina Ziemnick for their valuable feedback. Thank you to my fellow editors at the Virginia Law Review for their excellent work on this piece. And to my wife Marina and children Sylvie and Theo, thank you for your love and support.Show More

The Supreme Court has applied noscitur a sociis, often called the associated words canon, in many notable decisions—including the recent Fischer v. United States. This canon has a longstanding history in American jurisprudence, but interpreters face challenges in finding a common theme among words or phrases and supporting it with surrounding context. And some scholars argue judges can use noscitur to bring in external policy preferences and ideological beliefs. This Note proposes several steps to guide the use of noscitur and, by extension, its cousin ejusdem generis, including the clear identification of an association and multiple common themes and principles for transparent contextual analysis. These steps can shield judges from the appearance of guesswork or ideologically influenced decisions and encourage more accurate results by providing a clear roadmap of these canons’ proper application. They may also bring interpreters of all methodologies closer to their interpretive goals.

Introduction

What do the words “bud,” “mate,” “pal,” and “partner” have in common? According to the New York Times Connections puzzle on August 15, 2024, the answer is . . . nothing.¹ 1.Wyna Liu, Connections No. 431, N.Y. Times (Aug. 15, 2024), https://www.nytimes.com/‌games/connections/2024-08-15.Show More Connections, a fairly recent addition to the Times’s growing portfolio of games, asks readers to sort sixteen different words or phrases into four categories of four.² 2.SeeJoyann Jeffrey,Connections Is the NYT’s New Wordle Alternative. Here’s How to Play, Today (Aug. 29, 2023, 10:30 AM), https://www.today.com/popculture/connections-nyt-puzzle-how-to-play-rcna102300. The New York Times crossword has entertained readers since the early 1940s. David W. Dunlap, Birth of the Crossword, N.Y. Times (Dec. 17, 2022), https:/‌/www.nytimes.com/2022/12/17/insider/first-crossword.html. In recent years, the Times has added several different puzzles to go along with the crossword, including Connections. N.Y. Times Co., Games, https://www.nytco.com/products/games/ [https://perma.cc/85CZ-75KW] (last visited Mar. 28, 2025).Show More The puzzle relies on tricking readers with a number of different possible categories. For instance, in that August 15 scenario, “PARTNER” and “MATE” actually went with “COMPLEMENT” and “MATCH” under the common theme “OTHER HALF.”³ 3.See Liu, supra note 1.Show More “BUD” connected with “NATTY,” “SIERRA,” and “STELLA” under “BEERS, FAMILIARLY.” “PAL” fell into “WORDS AFTER ‘PAY’” with “DIRT,” “CHECK,” and “PHONE.”⁴ 4.Id. The final category was “BREADTH,” featuring “EXTENT,” “RANGE,” “REACH,” and “SCOPE.” Id.Show More

The Connections example shows that identifying a common theme among words can be a difficult process—even an impossible one—without context. Unless you knew the rules of the game, you probably would struggle to arrive at the desired common themes. And you would also find it difficult to explain your thought process to a friend without telling them that you need four categories of four.

Courts face a similar struggle in many cases of legal interpretation. They often must interpret a word or phrase as part of a list or grouping, and sometimes the meaning of that word or phrase is not immediately obvious. That is where the tool of noscitur a sociis comes in. Noscitur a sociis literally translates from Latin to “it is known by its associates.”⁵ 5.Noscitur a sociis, Black’s Law Dictionary (12th ed. 2024). This Note usually refers to the canon simply as noscitur and to its relative ejusdem generis as ejusdem.Show More In essence, associated words or phrases around the target word or phrase can influence its meaning.⁶ 6.Id.Show More

Take the Connections puzzle for a simple example. If you found a list in a sentence that read “BUD, MATE, PAL, or PARTNER,” you would probably assume that “BUD” referred to “buddy.”⁷ 7.See Bud, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/bud [https://pe‌rma.cc/Q4DQ-CLS5] (last visited Mar. 28, 2025).Show More But if the list instead read “BUD, NATTY, SIERRA, or STELLA,” you would likely think that “BUD” referred to the short name for a Budweiser. In neither instance would you think that “BUD” meant the beginnings of a flower on a plant (an otherwise perfectly acceptable meaning).⁸ 8.Id.Show More Thus, the context of associated words influences the meaning of the target word.

Legal interpreters often face much more difficult instances of association. And unlike the small stakes of winning the Connections game, judges’ decisions can affect people’s lives, freedom, and finances. Those affected by judicial opinions deserve frank, thorough, and well-reasoned decisions. So, if those decisions in part come down to the application of noscitur—to most, an unfamiliar Latin phrase—interpreters ought to explain exactly how they used it and exactly how it informed their conclusions.

In addition, to use noscitur effectively, a court must thoroughly investigate the definitions of key words and conduct enough legwork to arrive at an accurate conclusion. It might be tempting for an interpreter to look at a group of words or phrases and claim, without much explanation, to have found the common theme. The answer is often not so simple. And in some recent instances, courts have failed to explain their application of noscitur with sufficient clarity to prove that their purported common theme is the best interpretation.⁹ 9.See, e.g., infra notes 161–67, 262–68 and accompanying text.Show More

Perhaps this stems from a lack of documentation about noscitur. Existing literature, aside from major casebooks, has not provided much help for interpreters seeking advice on applying the canon.¹⁰ 10.See, e.g., Caleb Nelson, Statutory Interpretation 117–20 (2d ed. 2024).Show More Apart from the well-known handbook Reading Law by Justice Antonin Scalia and Professor Bryan Garner, no article has yet centered on guidelines for courts using noscitur.¹¹ 11.See Antonin Scalia & Bryan A. Garner, Reading Law: The Interpretation of Legal Texts (2012). For instance, a search of the HeinOnline Law Journal Library on November 30, 2024, for “noscitur” in the title of pieces revealed only two articles, neither of which took this tack. See generally David A. Schlesinger, Chevron Unlatined: The Inapplicability of the Canon Noscitur a Sociis Under Prong One of the Chevron Framework, 5 N.Y.U. Env’t L.J. 638 (1996) (discussing why noscitur should not be used under prong one of the Chevron doctrine); Keegan P. Dennis, Noscitur a Sociis: We Will Never Be the Same, 47 S. Ill. U. L.J. 485 (2023) (reflecting on attending law school during the COVID-19 pandemic).Show More Even Reading Law spends a mere four pages on noscitur as compared to fifteen on a subset of the canon, ejusdem generis.¹² 12.Scalia & Garner, supra note 11, at 195–98, 199–213.Show More So the general principles underlying noscitur have not received the treatment they deserve.

This Note seeks to fill that gap by presenting a model for courts planning to employ the noscitur canon—and by extension its relative ejusdem—in legal interpretation.¹³ 13.I often refer to these canons together as the “association canons.” Since ejusdem also relies on finding a common theme among words or phrases, this Note’s conclusions apply to both canons. But there are several unique aspects of ejusdem that require further discussion throughout.Show More Part I highlights the history and importance of the canon and its use in the notable recent case Fischer v. United States, which concerned a law applied to defendants in the January 6 riot.¹⁴ 14.144 S. Ct. 2176, 2181–82 (2024).Show More Part II dives into concerns with noscitur’s application. Several notable scholars have argued that it may open the door to the influence of policy preferences or ideology.¹⁵ 15.See infra notes 68–79 and accompanying text.Show More And the principle behind noscitur naturally implies several difficulties: the presence of multiple potential common traits, an undefined trigger, and a possible deviation from dictionary meaning. Part III then answers these concerns, building a model for applying noscitur. This model strongly encourages courts to explain the canon’s use in detail, including its relationship with the ordinary meaning of each word or phrase involved. It urges interpreters to be thorough, since a more detailed explanation wards off possible accusations of ideological influence. Part IV then revisits Fischer with this model in mind, examining the majority and dissenting opinions and their relationship with the model. It concludes that Fischer did not apply the association canons in the traditional way, and that the Court missed an opportunity to do so.

1.  Wyna Liu, Connections No. 431, N.Y. Times (Aug. 15, 2024), https://www.nytimes.com/‌games/connections/2024-08-15. ↑
2.  See Joyann Jeffrey, Connections Is the NYT’s New Wordle Alternative. Here’s How to Play, Today (Aug. 29, 2023, 10:30 AM), https://www.today.com/popculture/connections-nyt-puzzle-how-to-play-rcna102300. The New York Times crossword has entertained readers since the early 1940s. David W. Dunlap, Birth of the Crossword,
   

   N.Y.

   Times (Dec. 17, 2022), https:/‌/www.nytimes.com/2022/12/17/insider/first-crossword.html. In recent years, the Times has added several different puzzles to go along with the crossword, including Connections.

   N.Y.

   Times Co

   .,

   Games, https://www.nytco.com/products/games/ [https://perma.cc/85CZ-75KW] (last visited Mar. 28, 2025). ↑

3.  See Liu, supra note 1. ↑
4.  Id. The final category was “BREADTH,” featuring “EXTENT,” “RANGE,” “REACH,” and “SCOPE.” Id. ↑
5.  Noscitur a sociis, Black’s Law Dictionary
   

   (12th ed. 2024). This Note usually refers to the canon simply as noscitur and to its relative ejusdem generis as ejusdem. ↑

6.  Id. ↑
7.  See Bud, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/bud [https://pe‌rma.cc/Q4DQ-CLS5] (last visited Mar. 28, 2025). ↑
8.  Id. ↑
9.  See, e.g., infra notes 161–67, 262–68 and accompanying text. ↑
10.  See, e.g., Caleb Nelson, Statutory Interpretation 117–20 (2d ed. 2024). ↑
11.  See Antonin Scalia & Bryan A. Garner, Reading Law: The Interpretation of Legal Texts (2012). For instance, a search of the HeinOnline Law Journal Library on November 30, 2024, for “noscitur” in the title of pieces revealed only two articles, neither of which took this tack. See generally David A. Schlesinger, Chevron Unlatined: The Inapplicability of the Canon Noscitur a Sociis Under Prong One of the Chevron Framework, 5 N.Y.U. Env’t L.J
    

    .

    638 (1996) (discussing why noscitur should not be used under prong one of the Chevron doctrine); Keegan P. Dennis, Noscitur a Sociis: We Will Never Be the Same, 47 S. Ill. U. L.J

    .

    485 (2023) (reflecting on attending law school during the COVID-19 pandemic). ↑

12.  Scalia & Garner, supra note 11, at 195–98, 199–213. ↑
13.  I often refer to these canons together as the “association canons.” Since ejusdem also relies on finding a common theme among words or phrases, this Note’s conclusions apply to both canons. But there are several unique aspects of ejusdem that require further discussion throughout. ↑
14.  144 S. Ct. 2176, 2181–82 (2024). ↑

15.  See infra notes 68–79 and accompanying text. ↑