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Definition law

Etymology 1

From Middle English lawe, la?e, from Old English lagu (“law”), from Old Norse l?g (“law”, literally “things laid down or fixed”), originally the plural of lag (“layer, stratum, a laying in order, measure, stroke”), from Proto-Germanic *lag? (“that which is laid down”), from Proto-Indo-European *leg?- (“to lie”). Cognate with Icelandic lög (“things laid down, law”), Swedish lag (“law”), Danish lov (“law”). Replaced Old English ? and ?esetnes. More at lay. Unrelated to French loi if it derives from *le?- (“to gather”), otherwise cognate.

Noun

law (countable and uncountable, plural laws)

1. The body of binding rules and regulations, customs, and standards established in a community by its legislative and judicial authorities.
   1. The body of such rules that pertain to a particular topic.
   2. Common law, as contrasted with equity.
2. A binding regulation or custom established in a community in this way.
3. (more generally) A rule, such as:
   1. Any rule that must or should be obeyed, concerning behaviours and their consequences. (Compare mores.)
   2. A rule or principle regarding the construction of language or art.
   3. A statement (in physics, etc) of an (observed, established) order or sequence or relationship of phenomena which is invariable under certain conditions. (Compare theory.)
   4. (mathematics, logic) A statement (of relation) that is true under specified conditions; a mathematical or logical rule.
   5. Any statement of the relation of acts and conditions to their consequences.
   6. (cricket) One of the official rules of cricket as codified by the its (former) governing body, the MCC.
4. The control and order brought about by the observance of such rules.
5. (informal) A person or group that act(s) with authority to uphold such rules and order (for example, one or more police officers).
6. The profession that deals with such rules (as lawyers, judges, police officers, etc).
7. Jurisprudence, the field of knowledge which encompasses these rules.
8. Litigation, legal action (as a means of maintaining or restoring order, redressing wrongs, etc).
9. (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.
10. (fantasy) One of two metaphysical forces ruling the world in some fantasy settings, also called order, and opposed to chaos.
11. (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".)

Verb

law (third-person singular simple present laws, present participle lawing, simple past and past participle lawed)

1. (obsolete) To work as a lawyer; to practice law.
2. (transitive, intransitive, chiefly dialectal) To prosecute or sue (someone), to litigate.
3. (nonstandard) To rule over (with a certain effect) by law; govern.
4. (informal) To enforce the law.
5. To subject to legal restrictions.

Etymology 2

From Middle English lawe, from Old English hl?w (“burial mound”). Also spelled low.

Noun

law (plural laws)

1. (obsolete) A tumulus of stones.
2. (Scotland and Northern England, archaic) A hill.

Etymology 3

Compare la.

Interjection

law

1. (dated) An exclamation of mild surprise; lawks.

Results 403 Words with the letters LAW

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