Noscitur a sociis doctrine limits wide statutory words by association, narrowing their scope to cognate meanings in context. Noscitur a sociis requires that the meaning of a word be judged by the company it keeps, so that associated or general words are read in a cognate, context restricted sense; it is broader than ejusdem generis. The doctrine cautions against reliance on mere contiguity when the relevant association is unclear, and recognizes that indicators like the word 'includes' often signal a commonality that justifies narrowing wide or ambiguous statutory terms according to their immediate linguistic surroundings.