ejusdem generis

Ejusdem generis is a rule of statutory interpretation that was extended to the interpretation of contracts to clarify the meaning of contractual documents and to reduce ambiguity in terms of contracts and increase certainty of how a court would interpret the contractual obligation. The rule of interpretation applies where several words precede a general word - commonly lists of words. The meaning of the general word is restricted to the meaning of the preceding words, with the effect that the general word does not expand the beyond the subjects or classes of the preceding words.

For instance, where an exclusion clause in an insurance contract states that liability will be excluded by damage caused by "acts of god, flood, fire or otherwise", the term "otherwise" relates only to damage of the same class as the preceding words. Thus the clause would not exclude liability for damage caused by riots, but may do for damage caused by gas leaks. The term "ejusdem generis" may be read as "of the same class".

The effect of the rule of interpretation is usually circumvented in contracts by use of the words, "without limitation" or "without limit". Interpretation clauses in contracts are used to displace the operation of the ejusdem generis rule.

[Latin: of the same kind]