What does "law" mean?
The body of binding rules and regulations, customs, and standards established in a community by its legislative and judicial authorities.
Law
/lɔː/ intj, name, noun, verb, slang
intj, name, noun, verb, slang ·Very common ·Middle school level
Meaning at a glance
- Primary sense: The body of binding rules and regulations, customs, and standards established in a community by its legislative and judicial authorities.
- Grammar: law is listed as intj, name, noun, verb, slang.
- Nearest alternatives: code, jurisprudence, ordinance, regulation.
- Useful contrasts: ethics code, moral norms, substantive law.
- Usage evidence: You are supposed to obey the law.
How to use "law"
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- Compare nearby synonyms to make sure "law" carries the exact meaning, tone, and strength you need.
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Source and review context
This entry combines structured lexical data with WordToolSet review checks. Definitions, examples, synonyms, and usage notes may come from different source tables, so the page is designed to show evidence from more than one angle before you rely on "law" in a final draft.
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Definitions
Noun
- 1 The body of binding rules and regulations, customs, and standards established in a community by its legislative and judicial authorities. countable, uncountable, usually, with-definite-article
"Not unnaturally, "Auntie" took this communication in bad part.[…]Next day she[…]tried to recover her ward by the hair of the head. Then, thwarted, the wretched creature went to the police for help; she was versed in the law, and perhaps had spared no pains to keep on good terms with the local constabulary."
- 2 A tumulus of stones. obsolete
- 3 A score; share of expense; legal charge. dialectal, obsolete
- 4 Acronym of light anti-tank weapon. abbreviation, acronym, alt-of
- 5 the learned profession that is mastered by graduate study in a law school and that is responsible for the judicial system wordnet
Show 26 more definitions
- 6 The body of binding rules and regulations, customs, and standards established in a community by its legislative and judicial authorities.; The body of such rules that pertain to a particular topic. countable, uncountable, usually, with-definite-article
"property law"
- 7 A hill. Northern-England, Scotland, archaic
"[Y]ou might climb the Law, where the whale's jawbone stood landmark in the buzzing wind, and behold the face of many counties, and the smoke and spires of many towns, and the sails of distant ships."
- 8 a rule or body of rules of conduct inherent in human nature and essential to or binding upon human society wordnet
- 9 The body of binding rules and regulations, customs, and standards established in a community by its legislative and judicial authorities.; Common law, as contrasted with equity. countable, uncountable, usually, with-definite-article
- 10 a generalization that describes recurring facts or events in nature wordnet
- 11 A binding regulation or custom established in a community in this way. countable, uncountable
"There is a law against importing wallabies."
- 12 the branch of philosophy concerned with the law and the principles that lead courts to make the decisions they do wordnet
- 13 A rule, such as:; Any rule that must or should be obeyed, concerning behaviours and their consequences. (Compare mores.) broadly, countable, uncountable
""Do unto others as you wish them to do unto you" is a good law to follow."
- 14 legal document setting forth rules governing a particular kind of activity wordnet
- 15 A rule, such as:; A rule or principle regarding the construction of language or art. broadly, countable, uncountable
"the laws of playwriting and poetry"
- 16 the force of policemen and officers wordnet
- 17 A rule, such as:; A statement (in physics, etc) of an (observed, established) order or sequence or relationship of phenomena which is invariable under certain conditions. (Compare theory.) broadly, countable, uncountable
"Observing pi is easier than studying physical phenomena, because you can prove things in mathematics, whereas you can't prove anything in physics. And, unfortunately, the laws of physics change once every generation."
- 18 the collection of rules imposed by authority wordnet
- 19 A rule, such as:; A statement (of relation) that is true under specified conditions; a mathematical or logical rule. broadly, countable, uncountable
"Mathematical laws can be proved purely through mathematics, without scientific experimentation."
- 20 A rule, such as:; Any statement of the relation of acts and conditions to their consequences. broadly, countable, uncountable
"the law of scarcity"
- 21 A rule, such as:; A sound law; a regular change in the pronunciation of a language. broadly, countable, uncountable
"Grimm's law"
- 22 A rule, such as:; One of the official rules of cricket as codified by the its (former) governing body, the MCC. broadly, countable, uncountable
- 23 The control and order brought about by the observance of such rules. countable, uncountable
"They worked to maintain law and order."
- 24 A person or group that act(s) with authority to uphold such rules and order (for example, one or more police officers). countable, informal, uncountable
"Here comes the law — run!"
- 25 The profession that deals with such rules (as lawyers, judges, police officers, etc). countable, uncountable
"He is studying for a career in law."
- 26 Jurisprudence, the field of knowledge which encompasses these rules. countable, uncountable
"She went to university to study law."
- 27 Litigation; legal action (as a means of maintaining or restoring order, redressing wrongs, etc). countable, uncountable
"They were quick to go to law."
- 28 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. countable, uncommon, uncountable
"After a few minutes' waiting, two well-known runners, chosen for the hares, buckled on the four bags filled with scent, compared their watches with those of young Brooke and Thome, and started off at a long, slinging trot across the fields in the direction of Barby. Then the hounds clustered round Thome, who explained shortly, "They're to have six minutes' law.""
- 29 A mode of operation of the flight controls of a fly-by-wire aircraft. countable, uncountable
"normal law; alternate law; direct law"
- 30 One of two metaphysical forces ruling the world in some fantasy settings, also called order, and opposed to chaos. countable, uncountable
- 31 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".) countable, historical, uncountable
"As to the depriving the defendant of waging his law, it was thought, the practice merited discouragement, as a temptation to perjury."
Verb
- 1 To work as a lawyer; to practice law. obsolete
"That was in 1877 you were lawing with Herdick?"
- 2 To prosecute or sue (someone), to litigate. ambitransitive, dialectal
"Your husband's … so given to lawing, they say. I doubt he'll leave you poorly off when he dies."
- 3 To rule over (with a certain effect) by law; to govern. nonstandard
"At its 1933 session, the Kansas legislature provided for funding outstanding bills and floating debts of those cities which could not make payment by a fixed date. By this stroke of its imagination, the legislature lawed all Kansas cities onto a "cash" basis and admonished them to stay there."
- 4 To enforce the law. informal
"De gram jury lawed me all de time an' dat place got too hot."
- 5 To subject to legal restrictions.
"Insurance may fairly be said to head the list of objects of legislative interference. It has been lawed and lawed until it is nearly outlawed, and the cry for more continues to go up unsatisfied"
Intj
- 1 An exclamation of mild surprise; lawks; in interjections, a minced oath for Lord. dated
"‘Do tell me once for all, whether you intend to marry Mr Watts or not?’ ‘Law Mama, how can I tell you what I don't know myself?’"
Proper Noun
- 1 A surname originating as a patronymic.
- 2 A topographic surname from Old English, perhaps originally meaning someone who lives near a burial mound. countable, uncountable
- 3 Synonym of Torah: the five Books of Moses, particularly the commandments in it, as well as their specification in the Mishnah and their further interpretation in later religious literature. Judaism
- 4 A surname from Chinese.
- 5 A diminutive of the male given name Lawrence.
Show 4 more definitions
- 6 a conical hill Scotland, countable, uncountable
- 7 the commandments in the Books of Moses, sometimes seen as transcended by Christ
- 8 A village in South Lanarkshire council area, Scotland, United Kingdom (OS grid ref NS8252). countable, uncountable
- 9 the commandments and moral principles that are binding for Christians, such as the Decalogue, the teachings of the New Testament, the Church Fathers, etc.
Antonyms
ethics codemoral normssubstantive law
Example
"You are supposed to obey the law."
Common questions
What is a synonym for "law"?
Common synonyms include: code, jurisprudence, ordinance, regulation, rule, statute.
How do you use "law" in a sentence?
You are supposed to obey the law.
How do you pronounce "law"?
Pronounced /lɔː/.
Etymology
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”). Compare typologically distant cognate Russian уложе́ние (uložénije). Displaced native 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”).
Etymology 2
From Northern Middle English lawe, from Old English hlāw (“burial mound”). Also spelled low. See also Scots law.
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”).
Etymology 4
Compare la and Lawd.
Etymology 5
Clipping of Lawrence; From the given name Lawrence.
Etymology 6
From Old English hlaw (“a hill or burial mound”).
Etymology 7
A semantic loan of Greek νόμος (nómos, “law”), rendering Hebrew תּוֹרָה (tōrāh, “instruction, teaching”) in the sense of divine law.
Etymology 8
From Cantonese 羅 /罗 (lo⁴). Doublet of Luo and Lo.