law
Pronunciation
| Audio (UK): | Duration: 2 seconds. |
| Audio (US): | Duration: 1 second. |
- (General Australian) enPR: lô, IPA(key): /ɫoː/
| Audio (General Australian): | Duration: 2 seconds. |
- Homophone: la (cot–caught merger)
- Homophone: lore (non-rhotic, horse–hoarse merger)
- Homophone: lure (non-rhotic, pour–poor merger)
Etymology 1
From Middle English lawe, laȝe, from Old English lagu (“law”), borrowed from Old Norse lǫg (“law”, literally “things laid down or firmly established”), originally the plural of lag (“layer, stratum, a laying in order, measure, stroke”), from Proto-Germanic *lagą (“that which is laid down”), from Proto-Indo-European *legʰ- (“to lie”). Cognate with Scots law (“law”), Icelandic lög (“things laid down, law”), Faroese lóg (“law”), Norwegian lov (“law”), Swedish lag (“law”), Danish lov (“law”), Finnish laki(“law”). Replaced Old English ǣ and ġesetnes. More at lay.
Not related to legal, nor to French loi, Spanish ley, all of which ultimately derive from Latin lēx, from Proto-Indo-European *leǵ- (“to gather”).
Noun
law (countable and uncountable, plural laws)
- (usually with "the") The body of binding rules and regulations, customs and standards established in a community by its legislative and judicial authorities.[ quotations ▼]
- The courts interpret the law but should not make it.
- In theory, entrapment is against the law.
- The body of such rules that pertain to a particular topic.
- property law
- commercial hunting and fishing law
- Common law, as contrasted with equity.
- The body of such rules that pertain to a particular topic.
- A binding regulation or custom established in a community in this way. [ quotations ▼]
- There is a law against importing wallabies.
- A new law forbids driving on that road.
- The court ruled that the executive order was not law and nullified it.
- (more generally) A rule, such as:
- Any rule that must or should be obeyed, concerning behaviours and their consequences. (Compare mores.)
- "Do unto others as you wish them to do unto you" is a good law to follow.
- the law of self-preservation
- A rule or principle regarding the construction of language or art. [ quotations ▼]
- the laws of playwriting and poetry
- A statement (in physics, etc) of an (observed, established) order or sequence or relationship of phenomena which is invariable under certain conditions. (Compare theory.) [ synonym ▲][ quotations ▼]
- Synonyms: see Thesaurus:law of nature
- Any rule that must or should be obeyed, concerning behaviours and their consequences. (Compare mores.)
- the laws of thermodynamics
- Newton's third law of motion states that to every action there is always an equal and opposite reaction.
- This is one of several laws derived from his general theory expounded in the Philosophiæ Naturalis Principia Mathematica.
- (mathematics, logic) A statement (of relation) that is true under specified conditions; a mathematical or logical rule.
- Mathematical laws can be proved purely through mathematics, without scientific experimentation.
- Any statement of the relation of acts and conditions to their consequences.
- the law of scarcity
- the law of supply and demand
- (linguistics) A sound law; a regular change in the pronunciation of a language.
- Grimm's law
- Dahl's law
- (cricket) One of the official rules of cricket as codified by the its (former) governing body, the MCC.
- The control and order brought about by the observance of such rules.
- They worked to maintain law and order.
- It was a territory without law, marked by violence.
- (informal) A person or group that act(s) with authority to uphold such rules and order (for example, one or more police officers). [ quotations ▼]
- Here comes the law — run!
- then the law arrived on the scene
- The profession that deals with such rules (as lawyers, judges, police officers, etc).
- He is studying for a career in law.
- She has practiced law in New York for twenty years.
- Jurisprudence, the field of knowledge which encompasses these rules.
- She went to university to study law.
- Litigation; legal action (as a means of maintaining or restoring order, redressing wrongs, etc).
- They were quick to go to law.
- (now uncommon) An allowance of distance or time (a head start) given to a weaker (human or animal) competitor in a race, to make the race more fair.[ quotations ▼]
- (aviation) A mode of operation of the flight controls of a fly-by-wire aircraft.
- normal law; alternate law; direct law
- (fantasy) One of two metaphysical forces ruling the world in some fantasy settings, also called order, and opposed to chaos.
- (law, chiefly historical) An oath sworn before a court, especially disclaiming a debt. (Chiefly in the phrases "wager of law", "wage one's law", "perform one's law", "lose one's law".) [ quotations ▼]
Verb
law (third-person singular simple present laws, present participle lawing, simple past and past participle lawed)
- (obsolete) To work as a lawyer; to practice law. [ quotations ▼]
- (transitive, intransitive, chiefly dialectal) To prosecute or sue (someone), to litigate. [ quotations ▼]
- (nonstandard) To rule over (with a certain effect) by law; to govern. [ quotations ▼]
- (informal) To enforce the law. [ quotations ▼]
- To subject to legal restrictions. [ quotations ▼]
See also
Etymology 2
From Middle English lawe, from Old English hlāw (“burial mound”). Also spelled low.
Noun
law (plural laws)
Etymology 3
From Middle English lagh, from Old Norse lag (“that which is lying or laid, position, price, way, sting, blow”), from Proto-Germanic *lagą (“that which is laid”). Cognate with Scots lauch (“one's tavern-reckoning or one's share of the cost, a score; a payment for drink or entertainment”), Middle English lai (“one's share of expenses, one's bill or account”).
Noun
law (plural laws)
Related terms
Etymology 4
Interjection
law
- (dated) An exclamation of mild surprise; lawks; in interjections, a minced oath for Lord. [ quotations ▼]
Related terms
- laws (“minced oath for 'Lord'”)
References
- 2021 October 21, Harold F. Farwell, J. Karl Nicholas, Smoky Mountain Voices: A Lexicon of Southern Appalachian Speech Based on the Research of Horace Kephart, University Press of Kentucky, →ISBN:
- Laws-a-mighty me! Law bless my heart! Laws-a-mercy! (J 2:607). "Laws-a-marcy, how it does hurt!" (B 303). "I'm a-waitin' fer Jim Johnson, and with the help of the Lawd I'm goin' to blow his damn head off" (B 347).