law of nations
Synonym of international lawSynonym of international law.
Meaning
2 senses(uncountable)Synonym of international law.
Völkerrecht
(Early, Modern, archaic, uncountable)The shared set of legal principles said to be recognized by most peoples in the world; natural law.
- the body of laws governing relations between nations
Translations
4 languagesBy meaning 1
Origin
Calque of Latin iūs gentium, originally meaning legal principles that are general to humanCalque 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.
Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0 · source
Synonyms
1 synonyms- the body of laws governing relations between nations:international law
Lessons for this word
1 lessons- A1Countable and uncountable nouns — Because it can be uncountable
See also
neighbours in the dictionaryDictionary text adapted from Wiktionary (Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0) and Open English WordNet / Princeton WordNet (CC BY 4.0, WordNet License); shared under CC BY-SA 4.0. Example sentences and recordings are credited where they appear.