ejusdem generis rule

ejusdem generis rule

a rule of interpretation applying to legal writings and statutes stating that a list of things should be read as the one genus and the items as a species: applying the rule to ‘pansy, dandelion, daisy or others’, then ‘others’ would have to be a flower and could not be a horse. If the rule is not held to apply, then ‘other’ could be a horse, which would look strange in one's buttonhole.