law

English Online Dictionary. What means law‎? What does law mean?

English

Pronunciation

• (General American)
  • (cot–caught merger) enPR: lä, IPA^(key): /lɑ/
  • (without the cot–caught merger) enPR: lô, IPA^(key): /lɔ/
• enPR: lô
• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /lɔː/
  • Rhymes: -ɔː
  • (Southern England) IPA^(key): [loː]
• (General Australian) IPA^(key): /ɫoː/
• 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”). 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”).

Noun

law (countable and uncountable, plural laws)

1. (usually with "the") 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.)

      Synonyms: see Thesaurus:law of nature

   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. (linguistics) A sound law; a regular change in the pronunciation of a language.

   7. (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. (aviation) A mode of operation of the flight controls of a fly-by-wire aircraft.

11. (fantasy) One of two metaphysical forces ruling the world in some fantasy settings, also called order, and opposed to chaos.
12. (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".)

Derived terms

Translations

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. (ambitransitive, chiefly dialectal) To prosecute or sue (someone), to litigate.
   • 1860, George Eliot (Mary Anne Lewes), The Mill on the Floss:

     Your husband's [...] so given to lawing, they say. I doubt he'll leave you poorly off when he dies.
3. (nonstandard) To rule over (with a certain effect) by law; to govern.
4. (informal) To enforce the law.
5. To subject to legal restrictions.

See also

• Appendix:Legal terms
• Appendix:Glossary of legal terms
• Category:Law
• lawe

Etymology 2

From Middle English lawe, from Old English hlāw (“burial mound”). Also spelled low. See also Scots law.

Noun

law (plural laws)

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

Derived terms

• Largo 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”).

Noun

law (plural laws)

1. (dialectal or obsolete) A score; share of expense; legal charge.

Related terms

• lawing

Etymology 4

Compare la and Lawd.

Interjection

law

1. (dated) An exclamation of mild surprise; lawks; in interjections, a minced oath for Lord.
   • 1791-92, Jane Austen, ‘The Three Sisters’, Juvenilia:

     ‘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?’

Related terms

• laws (“minced oath for 'Lord'”)

References

References

Etymology in ODS

Anagrams

• AWL, WAL, WLA, Wal., awl, lwa

Fula

Adverb

law

1. early

References

• Oumar Bah, Dictionnaire Pular-Français, Avec un index français-pular, Webonary.org, SIL International, 2014.

Khumi Chin

Etymology

From Proto-Kuki-Chin *khlaa, from Proto-Sino-Tibetan *g-la. Cognates include Tibetan ཟླ་བ (zla ba) and Burmese လ (la.).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /lɔ˧/

Noun

law

1. moon
2. month

References

• R. Shafer (1944), “Khimi Grammar and Vocabulary”, in Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London, volume 11, number 2, page 422
• K. E. Herr (2011), The phonological interpretation of minor syllables, applied to Lemi Chin‎^[1], Payap University, page 42

Lower Sorbian

Etymology

From Proto-Slavic *lьvъ, from Proto-Indo-European *lewo-.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /law/

Noun

law m anim (feminine lawowka, diminutive lawk)

1. lion (Panthera leo)

Declension

Derived terms

• lawica
• lawik
• lawowy

Further reading

• Muka, Arnošt (1921, 1928), “law”, in Słownik dolnoserbskeje rěcy a jeje narěcow (in German), St. Petersburg, Prague: ОРЯС РАН, ČAVU; Reprinted Bautzen: Domowina-Verlag, 2008
• Starosta, Manfred (1999), “law”, in Dolnoserbsko-nimski słownik / Niedersorbisch-deutsches Wörterbuch (in German), Bautzen: Domowina-Verlag

Middle English

Noun

law

1. alternative form of lawe

Scots

Noun

law (plural laws)

1. law
2. rounded hill (usually conical, frequently isolated or conspicuous)

Adjective

law (comparative lawer, superlative lawest)

1. low

Sranan Tongo

Etymology

Probably from Kongo kilawu, from Proto-Bantu *dadU.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /lau̯/, [la̠u̯], [lɑ̟u̯]

Verb

law

1. To be crazy
2. To drive somebody crazy

Derived terms

• lawman

Upper Sorbian

Etymology

Inherited from Proto-Slavic *lь̀vъ.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈlaw/
• Rhymes: -aw
• Hyphenation: law
• Syllabification: law

Noun

law m animal

1. (zoology) lion (Panthera leo)

Declension

References

• “law” in Soblex

Welsh

Noun

law

1. soft mutation of glaw (“rain”)

Mutation

Noun

law

1. soft mutation of llaw (“hand”)

Mutation