External Aids - Definition - Law Dictionary Home Dictionary Definition external-aids

Definition :

External aids, the dictionary meaning of a word cannot be looked at where that word has been statutorily defined or judicially interpreted but where there is no such definition or interpretation, the court may take the aid of dictionaries to ascertain the meaning of a word in common parlance. In doing so the court must bear in mind that a word is used in different senses according to its context and a dictionary gives all the meanings of a word and the court would, therefore, have to select the particular meaning which would be relevant to the context in which it has to interpret that word, State of Orissa v. Titaghur Paper Mills Company Limited, (1985) Supp SCC 280: AIR 1985 SC 1293: (1985) 3 SCR 26.