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Law of nations
Definitions
- 1 Synonym of international law. uncountable
"A person commits piracy who does any act that, by the law of nations, is piracy."
- 2 the body of laws governing relations between nations wordnet
- 3 The shared set of legal principles said to be recognized by most peoples in the world; natural law. Early, Modern, archaic, uncountable
"And this is the Law, not of the Persians alone (which yet was the Law of a hundred twentie seven Provinces;) nor ours alone (and so may seeme to be the Law of Nations) but, that which strikes it home, by vertue of this enrolement here, is the Law of God; […]"
Etymology
Calque of Latin iūs gentium, originally meaning legal principles that are general to humanity. The sense “international law” became standard in the 17th–18th centuries, partly from reanalysis as referring to the law that pertains to nations as distinct entities, and partly from the supposition that any law governing relations between states must transcend the states themselves. See also English jus gentium, directly borrowed.
See also for "law of nations"
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