Definition
Latin: "thus," "so," or "in such manner." In legal and scholarly writing, *sic* performs two related functions:
1. **Quotation marker.** When inserted in brackets — [sic] — within a quoted passage, *sic* signals that the quoted text is reproduced exactly as it appeared in the source, including any error, unusual spelling, or surprising word choice. The insertion is the writer's way of saying: this is not my mistake; it belongs to the original. It neither corrects the error nor endorses it.
2. **Latin adverb in maxims.** In its unbracketed form, *sic* appears throughout Latin legal maxims as a substantive word meaning "so" or "in such a manner." Two maxims are especially frequent in the legal literature: *sic utere tuo ut alienum non laedas* ("use your own property in such a manner as not to injure that of another") and *sic interpretandum est ut verba accipiantur cum effectu* ("a statute is to be so interpreted that the words may be taken with effect").
Common Language
Modern common usage (Wiktionary): "Thus; as written; used to indicate that text is being quoted as it is from the source. Used in the manner of scare quotes."
Historical common usage (Webster's 1913): Listed only as a Scottish form of "such" — no entry for the Latin term.
The gap is narrow but worth noting. In ordinary writing, *sic* is broadly understood as a quotation marker. In legal sources, it carries an additional, entirely separate life as a functional Latin word within maxims. A researcher encountering *sic* in an older treatise or reported case must read context carefully: [sic] in a quotation is a modern editorial convention, but *sic* embedded in a Latin phrase is a substantive adverb that carries legal meaning.
Common Confusion
The bracketed [sic] convention is sometimes misread as indicating the writer's skepticism or sarcasm — a meaning it carries in informal writing. In legal quotation, [sic] is strictly neutral: it documents fidelity to the source. A court or attorney inserting [sic] is not mocking the original; they are preserving the record of exactly what was said or written. Conflating the sarcastic use with the documentary use can lead to misreading an attorney's intent or a court's tone.
Why It Matters in Research
For researchers working in the Law Mind corpus, *sic* is a term that operates on two entirely different planes depending on era and context.
**In quotation practice:** When reading transcribed cases, briefs, or secondary sources, [sic] is an editorial signal — either the transcriber's or the author's — that something unusual appears in the original. Older digitized sources sometimes drop the brackets, leaving a bare *sic* that can be confused with the Latin adverb. When browsing historical texts, always check whether *sic* is embedded in a Latin phrase or standing alone as a quotation marker.
**In maxim research:** *Sic* anchors some of the most durable maxims in property, tort, and statutory interpretation law. *Sic utere tuo* is foundational to nuisance doctrine and appears throughout common law property sources. *Sic interpretandum* connects to the whole-statute canon of construction. Searching for maxims containing *sic* requires awareness that retrieval may surface both uses indiscriminately.
**Historical traps:** Early legal dictionaries treat *sic* almost exclusively in its Latin adverb sense. They do not address the bracketed quotation convention because that convention, while ancient in scholarly practice, was not a subject of dictionary treatment. Researchers looking for guidance on quotation practice in legal briefs will not find it in the historical dictionaries; they should turn to court rules and legal writing treatises instead.
Historical Dictionary Support
Black's (both editions) and Burrill treat *sic* as a Latin adverb and provide the same two maxims: *sic interpretandum est* (citing Coke's *Institutes*, 3 Inst. 80) and *sic enim debere quem meliorem agrum suum facere ne vicini deteriorem faciat* (citing Kent's *Commentaries*, 3 Kent, Comm. 441). The uniformity across editions reflects the settled character of these maxims; no dictionary shows any evolution in their meaning.
Anderson's adds only the gloss "sometimes calls attention to a quoted word or phrase" — an early acknowledgment of the quotation-marker function, though Anderson does not elaborate it as a distinct entry.
Rapalje & Lawrence's entry appears to be a compilation artifact and offers no independent treatment of *sic* as a standalone term.
None of the historical dictionaries address [sic] as a formal citation or quotation convention, which reflects the period: the bracketed form was a scholarly practice rather than a subject of legal definition.
Encyclopedia Cross-Reference
See Law Mind Encyclopedia: Statutory Interpretation (for *sic interpretandum est* in context); Nuisance and *Sic Utere Tuo* (for the property maxim).