# Skinner's maxim

> English word · Proper noun

## Definitions
1. The principle that any historical account of what someone meant by a certain action or statement must in some measure conform to that person’s own understanding of what they were saying or doing.

## Etymology
After British intellectual historian Quentin Skinner, who formulated the principle in 1969.

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/word/skinner-s-maxim