Legal Definition and Related Resources of Innuendo

Doing acts by hinting, by insinuation, by intimation. In actions for libel , the term denotes tha part of a pleading which explains the word; spoken or written and annexes them their proper meaning. An explanation of the alleged libellous statement by the plaintiff pointing out the sense in which he claims that they were used by the defendant . See Hardboard Missionary Co. v Coastal Products Corp., (D.C.Ga.) 289 F. Supp. 496 Not an Averment of an extrinsic fact but a fact which when examined in the light of words apparently innocent, would convey a libellous accusation . Murray v Cassirer 232 N. Y.S.2d 74, 34 Misc.2d616.

(Lat. innuere, to nod at, to hint at; meaning). The word was used when pleadings were in Latin, and has been translated by “meaning.” In Pleading. A clause in a declaration, indictment, or other pleading containing an averment which is explanatory of some preceding word or statement. It derives its name from the leading word by which it was always introduced when pleadings were in Latin. It is mostly used in actions of slander, and is then said to be a subordinate averment, connecting particular parts of the publication with what has gone before, in order to elucidate the defendant’s meaning more fully. 1 Starkie, Sland. & L. 431. Its object is to explain the defendant’s meaning by reference to previous matter. See “Colloquium.” It may be used to point to the plaintiff as the person intended in the defendant’s statement. It may show that a general imputation of crime is intended to apply to the plaintiff (Heard, Lib. & Sland. § 226; 1 H. L. Cas. 637; 2 Hill [N. Y.] 282), but it cannot be allowed to give a new sense to words where there is no such charge (8 Q. B. 825; 7 C. B. 280). It may point to the injurious and actionable meaning, where the words complained of are susceptible of two meanings (8 Q. B. 841; Moore & S. 727), and generally explain the preceding matter (1 Dowl. [N. S.] 602; 7 C. B. 251; 15 C. B. 360; 1 Mees. & W. 245; 5 Bing. 17; 10 Bing. 250; 12 Adol. & E. 317), but cannot enlarge and point the effect of language beyond its natural and common meaning in its usual acceptation (Heard, Lib. & Sland. § 219; Mete. Yelv. 22; 2 Salk. 513; 1 Ld. Raym. 256; 2 Cowp. 688; 4 Per. & D. 161; 6 Bam. & C. 154; 4 Nev. 6 M. 841; 4 Dowl. 703; 9 Adol. & E. 282; 12 Adol. & E. 719; 15 Pick. [Mass.] 335), unless connected with the proper introductory averments (1 Cromp. & J. 143; 1 Adol. & E. 554; 9 Adol. & E. 282, 286, note; 1 C. B. 728; 6 C. B. 239; 1 Saund. 242; 2 Pick. [Mass.] 320; 13 Pick. [Mass.] 198; 15 Pick. [Mass.] 321; 16 Pick. [Mass.] 1; 11 Mete. [Mass.] 473; 8 N. H. 246; 12 Vt. 51; 1 Bin. [Pa.] 537; 5 Bin. [Pa.] 218; 11 Serg. & R. [Pa.] 343; 5 Johns. [N. Y.] 211).

noun

• accusation
• allusion
• aside
• aspersion
• charge
• connotation
• denuntiatio
• hint
• implication
• implied indication
• imputation
• incrimination
• indication
• indirect allusion
• inference
• insinuation
• mention
• nuntius
• oblique allusion
• overtone
• reference
• reflection
• signifcatio
• suggestion
• Associated Concepts: defamation
• disparagement
• libel
• slander

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Innuendo in Historical Law

You might be interested in the historical meaning of this term. Browse or search for Innuendo in Historical Law in the Encyclopedia of Law.

Search for legal acronyms and/or abbreviations containing Innuendo in the Legal Abbreviations and Acronyms Dictionary.

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Mentioned in these terms

Slander Per Quod.

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This definition of Innuendo is based on the The Cyclopedic Law Dictionary . This entry needs to be proofread.

Vocabularies (Semantic Web Information)

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Innuendo in Law Enforcement

Main Entry: Law Enforcement in the Legal Dictionary. This section provides, in the context of Law Enforcement, a partial definition of innuendo.

Grammar

This term is a noun.

Etimology of Innuendo

(You may find innuendo at the world legal encyclopedia and the etimology of more terms).

oblique hint, indiscreet suggestion, usually a deprecatory one, 1670s, from Latin innuendo “by meani
ng, pointing to,” literally “giving a nod to,” ablative of gerund of innuere “to mean, signify,” literally “to nod to,” from in- “at” (see in- (2)) + nuere “to nod” (see numinous). Originally in English a legal phrase (1560s) from Medieval Latin, with the sense of “to wit,” introducing an explanatory or parenthetical clause, it also introduced the derogatory meaning alleged in libel cases, which led to broader meaning. As a verb, from 1706.

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See Also

• Law Enforcement Officer
• Police Work
• Law Enforcement Agency

Further Reading

• innuendo in A Dictionary of Law Enforcement (Oxford University Press)
• innuendo in the Encyclopedia of Law Enforcement
• A Treatise on the Police of the Metropolis

Concept of “Innuendo”

Traditional meaning of innuendo in English (with some legal use of this latin concept in England and the United States in the XIX Century) [1]: (in Latin) Meaning; the clause in a declaration explaining slanderous matter; see 3rd Book (“Of Private Wrongs”), Blackstone’s Commentaries on the Laws of England 126; COLLOQUIUM.

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Notes and References

1. Based on A Concise Law Dictionary of Words, Phrases and Maxims, “Innuendo”, Boston: Little, Brown, and Company, 1911, United States. It is also called the Stimson’s Law dictionary. This term and/or definition may be absolete.

See Also

Innuendo