Originalism
Etymology
From "original," pointing to the text’s original meaning. It rose within American conservative legal thought in the 1980s, championed by figures like Robert Bork and Justice Antonin Scalia, partly in reaction to interpretations seen as too free. Its main rival is the "living constitution" view.
noun · /uh-RIJ-uh-nuh-liz-um/
A theory of constitutional interpretation holding that the text should mean what it was understood to mean when adopted.
What it names
The interpretive philosophy behind many landmark US rulings, making explicit a deep disagreement over whether a constitution’s meaning is fixed or evolving.
Example
An originalist reading asks what the framers’ words meant in 1789, not what they might sensibly mean today.
Related idea
In law it parallels textualism (sticking to statutory text) and opposes the "living constitution" approach, which holds that meaning adapts to changing times.