Legal words gain meaning from surrounding context, not from fixed dictionary definitions.

Evidence

Judges also read the words in a legal enactment in context, not just for their dictionary meaning. Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes explained why context is so crucial to interpretation: “A word is not a crystal, transparent and unchanged, it is the skin of a living thought and may vary greatly in color and content, according to the circumstances and the time in which it is used.”’ This context may serve to give specificity to the general language in an enactment. Thus, in the context of the Mann Act, the meaning of “any immoral purpose” is clarified by its appearance in juxtaposition to other language (“prostitution” and “debauchery”) dealing with sexual immorality. — G. Alan Tarr, Judicial Process and Judicial…, 2457

Categorization

• XREF: Holmes’s ‘skin of a living thought’ metaphor anchors contextualist jurisprudence and connects to the course’s discussion of legal realism.
• DEEPTHINKING: The noscitur a sociis logic — meaning fixed by juxtaposition, not definition — reframes how any text’s words carry meaning, not just statutes.
• SEED: An essay on how context defines words could apply Holmes’s line to contracts, constitutions, and everyday language alike.