INTERPRETATION
interpretation,n.1. The process of determining what something, esp. the law or a legal
document, means; the ascertainment of meaning to be given to words or other manifestations of intention. [Cases: Contracts 143. C.J.S. Contracts § 302.]
“Interpretation, as applied to written law, is the art or process of discovering and expounding the intended signification of the language used, that is, the meaning which the authors of the law designed it to convey to others.” Henry Campbell Black, Handbook on the Construction and Interpretation of the Laws 1 (1896).
“There is more to interpretation in general than the discovery of the meaning attached by the author to his words. Even if, in a particular case, that meaning is discoverable with a high degree of certitude from external sources, the question whether it has been adequately expressed remains.” Rupert Cross, Statutory Interpretation 149 (1976).
administrative interpretation.An interpretation given to a law or regulation by an administrative agency. [Cases: Administrative Law and Procedure 413; Statutes 219. C.J.S.
Public Administrative Law and Procedure § 95; Statutes § 344.]
authentic interpretation.Interpretation arrived at by asking the drafter or drafting body what
the intended meaning was.
“The procedure of referring the doubtful statute to its author has acquired a name in the literature of jurisprudence. It is called ‘authentic interpretation.’ … [Although] this device has been tried in … recent times in certain European countries, … [it] has always failed, and no thoughtful adviser would recommend it to any government today.” Lon L. Fuller, Anatomy of the Law 29–30 (1968).
comparative interpretation.A method of statutory construction by which parts of the statute are compared to each other, and the statute as a whole is compared to other documents from the same source on a similar subject.
customary interpretation.Interpretation based on earlier rulings on the same subject. [Cases:
Customs and Usages 15. C.J.S. Customs and Usages §§ 21–23.]
extensive interpretation.A liberal interpretation that applies a statutory provision to a case not
falling within its literal words.
grammatical interpretation.Interpretation that is based exclusively on the words themselves.
[Cases: Statutes 189. C.J.S. Statutes § 324.]
liberal interpretation.Interpretation according to what the reader believes the author reasonably intended, even if, through inadvertence, the author failed to think of it. — Also termed mixed interpretation. [Cases: Federal Civil Procedure 656; Statutes 235. C.J.S. Statutes § 376.] limited interpretation.See restrictive interpretation.
logical interpretation.Interpretation that departs from the literal words on the ground that there may be other, more satisfactory evidence of the author’s true intention. — Also termed rational interpretation.
mixed interpretation.See liberal interpretation.
practical interpretation.See contemporaneous construction under CONSTRUCTION. rational interpretation.See logical interpretation.
restrictive interpretation.An interpretation that is bound by a principle or principles existing outside the interpreted text. — Also termed restricted interpretation; limited interpretation; interpretatio limitata. Cf. unrestrictive interpretation.
statutory interpretation.See STATUTORY CONSTRUCTION.
strict interpretation.Interpretation according to what the reader believes the author must have been thinking at the time of the writing, and no more. • Typically, this type of reading gives a text a narrow meaning. [Cases: Federal Civil Procedure 656; Statutes 235. C.J.S. Statutes § 376.]
unrestrictive interpretation.Interpretation in good faith, without reference to any specific
principle. Cf. restrictive interpretation.
2. The understanding one has about the meaning of something. [Cases: Statutes 174–278.
C.J.S. Statutes §§ 306–431.] 3. A translation, esp. oral, from one language to another. 4.CHARACTERIZATION(1). See CONSTRUCTION(2). — interpret,vb. — interpretative, interpretive,adj.
[Blacks Law 8th]